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sara9b 's review for:
Day of the Dead
by Nicci French
*There are some slight spoilers in here with regards to the previous books in the series*
The series is a set of cases which either have been closed or sucked into a swamp, in which no progress seems to be made. All of them somehow manage to get Dr Frieda Klein involved, often not out of her own volition and in book one, we’re introduced to Dean Reed who becomes almost a central presence in the novels. He follows and stalks Frieda whilst leaving a trail of dead bodies in his wake. He becomes a ghost, when most of the world is led to believe in his death, and a bit of an unwanted protector of Frieda’s, getting involved with people in her life that for whatever reason made it harder. Aside from Reed, each novel, apart from the first and the last one, is about another, unrelated event that needs solving. All of the storylines are woven into elaborate mysteries with no obvious culprit, that lends the books an addicting quality with an edge.
The Freida Klein series surprised me. I wasn’t expecting to grow attached to the long list of people that make up the group that’s almost closer than a family to Frieda, constituting of mismatched characters of varying ages. They became an integral part of the story, each bringing something different along to make the whole series whole. Freida herself was written as a strong, calm presence but not in the typical heroine way; her stoicism, emotional maturity and intelligence is what sets her apart from all the protagonists in other thrillers out there. Whenever she needed to think, she would put on her walking shoes and set off into the London streets, often at night, following hidden rivers as she cleared her mind, which played into psycho-geography aspect of the series which in an important theme. Her being a psychotherapist, made her equipped in a special set of skills; easy to trust and talk to, she eventually would get even the most uncooperative individual to slip.
Despite my love for the series which I had devoured in a week, the last novel felt almost unsatisfactory. It had my engagement, yes, but it failed in the way of providing a proper send off to all of the characters. What annoyed me, although I know why it was done, was the introduction of Lola or rather, her having been put under a large spotlight for the majority of the novel, even if she's quite likeable, whilst the rest of the characters are left to hover in the shadows. The furtive glimpses we're given into their lives, are all in relation to Frieda' disappearance and hardly enough after the several books of world building. Perhaps, if the novel was written as a standalone it would have been fine, but seeing as it was the last one of a series, it seems as a bit of a disservice to those who followed the story from the beginning. Moreover, the Frieda/ Reed meeting lacked the climax that was building up from book one, and I almost wish that 'The Day of the Dead' was taken away and new book would magically appear in it's place with less vagueness in the last chapters especially and more emphasis on the central characters throughout.
With the ending being diluted and brief, I think it easily left a gap for one more novel set a few years in the future which I hope that the authors will decide to eventually write. (Fingers crossed!)
Book rating: 3.5/5
Overall series rating: 5/5
The series is a set of cases which either have been closed or sucked into a swamp, in which no progress seems to be made. All of them somehow manage to get Dr Frieda Klein involved, often not out of her own volition and in book one, we’re introduced to Dean Reed who becomes almost a central presence in the novels. He follows and stalks Frieda whilst leaving a trail of dead bodies in his wake. He becomes a ghost, when most of the world is led to believe in his death, and a bit of an unwanted protector of Frieda’s, getting involved with people in her life that for whatever reason made it harder. Aside from Reed, each novel, apart from the first and the last one, is about another, unrelated event that needs solving. All of the storylines are woven into elaborate mysteries with no obvious culprit, that lends the books an addicting quality with an edge.
The Freida Klein series surprised me. I wasn’t expecting to grow attached to the long list of people that make up the group that’s almost closer than a family to Frieda, constituting of mismatched characters of varying ages. They became an integral part of the story, each bringing something different along to make the whole series whole. Freida herself was written as a strong, calm presence but not in the typical heroine way; her stoicism, emotional maturity and intelligence is what sets her apart from all the protagonists in other thrillers out there. Whenever she needed to think, she would put on her walking shoes and set off into the London streets, often at night, following hidden rivers as she cleared her mind, which played into psycho-geography aspect of the series which in an important theme. Her being a psychotherapist, made her equipped in a special set of skills; easy to trust and talk to, she eventually would get even the most uncooperative individual to slip.
Despite my love for the series which I had devoured in a week, the last novel felt almost unsatisfactory. It had my engagement, yes, but it failed in the way of providing a proper send off to all of the characters. What annoyed me, although I know why it was done, was the introduction of Lola or rather, her having been put under a large spotlight for the majority of the novel, even if she's quite likeable, whilst the rest of the characters are left to hover in the shadows. The furtive glimpses we're given into their lives, are all in relation to Frieda' disappearance and hardly enough after the several books of world building. Perhaps, if the novel was written as a standalone it would have been fine, but seeing as it was the last one of a series, it seems as a bit of a disservice to those who followed the story from the beginning. Moreover, the Frieda/ Reed meeting lacked the climax that was building up from book one, and I almost wish that 'The Day of the Dead' was taken away and new book would magically appear in it's place with less vagueness in the last chapters especially and more emphasis on the central characters throughout.
With the ending being diluted and brief, I think it easily left a gap for one more novel set a few years in the future which I hope that the authors will decide to eventually write. (Fingers crossed!)
Book rating: 3.5/5
Overall series rating: 5/5