A review by liseyp
The Murder Mile by Lesley Mcevoy

mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

Thank you to the author, publisher Zaffre, and online book club The Pigeonhole for the chance to read this. I also bought the book to finish it, because I couldn’t wait for the rest of the chapters to be released on The Pigeonhole over the next few days. I had to find out what happened. This is an honest and voluntary review. 

 

A stunningly good debut novel and start to a series.

 

Dr Jo McCready is a forensic psychologist. While she’s worked with the police in the past they now employ their own criminologist and strictly speaking aren’t supposed to ask for her help anymore. But, one officer does pulling Jo into an internal police political battle.

 

Then when a patient Jo has been asked to consult on is murdered she finds herself at the heart of another murder case, one with links back to the most famous serial killer of all time.

 

The Murder Mile opens with a bang. Lots of action and characters thrown at the reader right out of the gate. I wasn’t sure at first whether I was enjoying it or was overwhelmed. It didn’t take long for the story to settle into a rhythm though, delivering on all those early plot points a d pulling together into a cohesive narrative which delivered again and again.

 

The dynamic between Jo and the lead detective Callum reminded me of a gender reversed version of Val McDermid’s Tony Hill and Carol Jordan. But, without Tony’s major baggage. I loved that series though and it really feels that Lesley McEvoy is off to a strong start with a series which could well be a contender to fill the gap left by Tony and Carol in my reading heart.

 

A fantastic read, and I’ve already downloaded the sequel The Killing Song.