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A review by book_concierge
Malicious Intent by Kathryn Fox
3.0
3.5***
From the book jacket: (Sydney’s) only female freelancer in the male-dominated field, pathologist Dr. Anya Crichton will take any work she can find to pay child support and her mortgage, get her new business of the ground, and battle her ex-husband for custody of their three-year-old son. When her expert forensic evidence is instrumental in winning a high-profile case, new work offers start pouring in. But Anya’s investigation into the drug overdose of a young Lebanese girl is raising troubling questions. Startling coincidences between this death and a series of seemingly unrelated suicides that Anya is also examining, suggest that there’s a [serial killer] at work.
My reactions
Great debut in a crowded field. Fox writes a tense, compelling mystery thriller with a (mostly) strong female lead. Anya is intelligent, resourceful, and tenacious. But she is also prone to self-doubt when it comes to certain aspects of her life. As a free-lancer, and female to boot, she’s fighting an uphill battle convincing the police that her findings point to a crime, so she forced to pursue the investigation on her own. Her best friend, Kate, is a detective and begins to become an ally, but then betrays Anya’s trust when dealing with the lone survivor.
Because this is number one in a series, there’s a lot of personal background that has to be covered, and in this case Anya’s own back story is instrumental in shaping the current plot. It helps to explain why she’s such a loner, and her personal troubles with her ex-husband make her emotionally vulnerable.
I had identified the culprit pretty quickly, certainly by half-way through the novel, but enjoyed watching the characters figure it out for themselves. I recognized that Fox gave the reader clues that Anya and the police did not have. The ending somewhat sets the reader up for future installments. I would hope that her relationships with Kate, Martin and Brody are continued and developed further as the series progresses.
From the book jacket: (Sydney’s) only female freelancer in the male-dominated field, pathologist Dr. Anya Crichton will take any work she can find to pay child support and her mortgage, get her new business of the ground, and battle her ex-husband for custody of their three-year-old son. When her expert forensic evidence is instrumental in winning a high-profile case, new work offers start pouring in. But Anya’s investigation into the drug overdose of a young Lebanese girl is raising troubling questions. Startling coincidences between this death and a series of seemingly unrelated suicides that Anya is also examining, suggest that there’s a [serial killer] at work.
My reactions
Great debut in a crowded field. Fox writes a tense, compelling mystery thriller with a (mostly) strong female lead. Anya is intelligent, resourceful, and tenacious. But she is also prone to self-doubt when it comes to certain aspects of her life. As a free-lancer, and female to boot, she’s fighting an uphill battle convincing the police that her findings point to a crime, so she forced to pursue the investigation on her own. Her best friend, Kate, is a detective and begins to become an ally, but then betrays Anya’s trust when dealing with the lone survivor.
Because this is number one in a series, there’s a lot of personal background that has to be covered, and in this case Anya’s own back story is instrumental in shaping the current plot. It helps to explain why she’s such a loner, and her personal troubles with her ex-husband make her emotionally vulnerable.
I had identified the culprit pretty quickly, certainly by half-way through the novel, but enjoyed watching the characters figure it out for themselves. I recognized that Fox gave the reader clues that Anya and the police did not have. The ending somewhat sets the reader up for future installments. I would hope that her relationships with Kate, Martin and Brody are continued and developed further as the series progresses.