Reviews with content warning for Stalking - The Jigsaw Man

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The Jigsaw Man by Nadine Matheson

5 reviews

midnightmarauder's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The Jigsaw Man follows Detective Inspector Anjelica Henley as she fights to solve a string of murders in London that leave the victims dismembered. The murders are similar to murders that have happened prior, to which a man, Peter Olivier (dubbed "The Jigsaw Killer"), did the exact same thing. But, because Olivier is incarcerated at the time of the new murders, it is up to Henley to figure out who is doing the killings, and why.

Joining her is Trainee Detective Constable Salim Ramouter. Henley, a tough and well-respected detective, isn't too fond of him initially. Yet, as time goes on, the pair become close and work well together to solve the case.

What I liked about this book is how fleshed-out the characters were. I related a lot to Henley, as she is another person who puts up a tough exterior, but internally, is very fearful and anxious. She had a traumatic incident with Olivier at the time of his arrest, which left her with a panic disorder. The incident prevented her from working for a while, but she stayed determined to solve the crimes and despite being fearful, pushed through and did her best to stop the murders.

Ramouter is well-written too, even though I would've liked to see more of his thought-processes when it came to solving the murders.

Olivier is written almost too well. He is a haunting, sociopathic individual with little regard to how other people feel. Why he begins to murder people is explained briefly at the start of the book, but I would've wanted to see a bit more about his childhood and how it may have affected his mental state.

Overall, this book was an enjoyable read. I look forward to reading the rest of the series and more from Nadine Matheson as a whole.

Content Warnings

archaicrobin's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Firstly, this book reminded me of one of my favorite crime, mystery, noir tv shows The Killing, and I loved it. Much like The Killing you have a female inspector/detective named Anjelica Henley, with a dark past and a penchant for having no work life balance at all. In fact her marriage is on the rocks, her family is falling apart, she had an affair with a former lover and current colleague, and on top of all of that she’s been given a newbie detective in training to tag along as she’s finally back out on the streets. Much like our main characters in The Killing!

While the characters, tone, and pacing are reminiscent of The Killing, that’s about it. The Killing focuses on one murder while The Jigsaw Man follows detective Henley and her new partner in training Ramouter as they try to catch a gruesome copy cat serial killer who idolizes another and even more gruesome serial killer labeled The Jigsaw Man whose known for dismembering his victims and spreading them out like jigsaw pieces. As the body parts keep piling up Henley falls harder and harder into the case.

Matheson does a great job of blending the process of investigation with the narrative of the story in a way that I didn’t want to our the book down. This is a big book at almost 500 pages but the author’s writing style and short chapters made this fly by for me! I loved reading about the characters and how they interacted and worked together to try and solve their case! I love police mystery thrillers and this book was one I didn’t realize I desperately needed until I started it!

If you’re at all into thrillers or crime dramas I would suggest picking this up and also watching The Killing if you haven’t yet because it’s also great and has such similar vibes. Excited to find out that The Jigsaw Man is also the first installment in the Angelica Henley series and I can’t wait for the next book!

Content Warnings