Jo McCready

This is a well-written and well-thought-out thriller, and although it's fairly easy, at an early stage, to work out how the victim died, it's compelling right to the end.

It's an intriguing story about the mysterious death of a wealthy businessman on a hunting trip in the Scottish highlands. A tragic accident is the verdict that is completely unacceptable to his widow, whose brother employs a virtually untraceable agency specialising in just this sort of investigation. Agent RJ Rox is assigned the case. And it's a tricky one, not least because Scotland holds some bad memories for her, and she and her co-investigator have some rather awkward history.

Scotland is a beautiful backdrop to any story, but I didn't feel it: there isn't enough scenic description to transport you to the really magical countryside that Scotland has, and perhaps the Scottish locals' dialogue could have had some Scottish spelling and words to get a feel of the lilt. But that really is my only niggle. The pace is fast, the main characters are strong and interesting and oh, what was that on the last page…a teensy little lead-in for an RJ thriller #2?

I do hope so: McCready has created a character in RJ you want to get to know better and find out what makes her tick. I'm ready and waiting for #2.… (más)

The second novel in the RJ Rox series, THE FESTIVAL KILLER is a crime novel, with a rejected manuscript at its heart. The connection between the past unsolved case of an ambassador's secret love child going missing at the Berlin Book Festival, and subsequent disappearances from similar book festivals isn't immediately obvious, but Agent Rox, and the clandestine organisation she works for known as Kingfisher, eventually find a link between them, and a well-known crime writer's most recent novel.

Being second in the series, there's a bit to the backstory of Rox that readers will need to take as a given, if they've done what I did, and come to this novel first. She's an excellent character though - flawed, realistic, and utterly determined. Even the idea of the clandestine organisation works well here, and the plot itself is nicely twisty, very clever, with just enough original ideas (vengeance isn't unusual, but a rejected manuscript and a writer's struggle with the dreaded second novel and the dilemma around adapting another's idea is territory less mined).

The story in The FESTIVAL KILLER is told in multiple voices, all of which are distinct enough to allow a reader to follow along, and when combined with that clever plot idea, compensated for an ending that sort of crashed into place, leaving a lot of questions unanswered. Definitely left this reader thinking there's perhaps a third book in the planning, although that's not my favourite method of ensuring a potential audience. Having said that, certainly made me add the first novel in the series to the "one to read" list.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/festival-killer-jo-mccready… (más)