Well, hello and how do you do you, Cassie Raven! Hello, and how do you do, A. K. Turner! Now then, A.K. I’m going to review your book. I’m going to be pretty positive about it. But there is a condition. If I’m going to do this you have to promise me one thing? That you’re going to write some more Cassie Raven novels. Please? Is that a yes? Okay, let us proceed.
To matters of a blurbish nature……
‘For fans of Tess Gerritsen and Kathy Reichs comes a gripping debut thriller introducing Camden's most exciting new forensic investigator.
Cassie Raven believes the dead can talk. We just need to listen . . .
People think being a mortuary technician is a seriously weird job. They can't understand why I choose to cut up dead bodies for a living. But they don't know what I know:
The dead want to tell us what happened to them.
I've eviscerated thousands of bodies, but never someone I know before - someone who meant a lot to me; someone I loved.
The pathologist says that her death was an accident.
Her body is telling me differently.’
Maybe not as extreme, maybe not as intense, but maybe not too far off Cassie Raven reminded me of Liesbeth Salander. Liesbeth is one of my literary heroines. So if Cassie Raven is like Liesbeth Salander then Cassie Raven is going to be one of my literary heroines too! Cassie is fearless and feisty. But she’s also smart, compassionate and prepared to let her actions speak louder than words.
I loved this book. I couldn’t put it down. There was something utterly fresh and revitalising about it and it seemed that an entire genre had been given an injection of a recreational substance we’ll call creative imagination.
The premise is original; a mortuary technician comes across the body of someone she knows. That might trigger a comparison with Silent Witness but that’s a TV show, this is a novel. And it’s very novel. It has what I like to call a ‘snowball plot’ that gathers more and more momentum as the story progresses until you feel like you’re in a snow storm so much is happening, with some delicious twists that you didn’t see coming.
This is one of those books where every character counts. None of them are for dressing, they’re all to further the narrative. And the dynamic between Cassie and the police officer Phyllida Flyte is perfect. (Raven and Flyte? Has a certain ring to it, no?) But the story is Cassie’s. It’s Cassie we’re rooting for. It’s Cassie we worry about. We know she has a back story and it’s very cleverly revealed to us throughout the entire breadth of the novel, never interfering with the main story but there in the background allowing us to get to know her even better.
It’s a meaty tale that has more dimensions than “just” the crime(s). I hope that’s not a spoiler? There is a suggestion of a spiritual/supernatural flavour. The forensic aspects of the book are absorbing and gripping. But the nature of relationships, friendships and loyalties are also explored. And even after the mystery at the heart of the book is solved we are left with a conclusion that frankly left me slightly open mouthed.
It’s confident, vibrant writing. Structurally interesting too, where chapters are numbered apart from those headed Flyte and I’m still pondering the reason for that because she does feature in some of the numbered chapters too. And isn't Cassie supposed to be the main character? Intriguing. Attention to detail fleshes out the tale offering the reader an almost visual experience. I can see this translating well to the small or even the big screen. It's a satisfying, substantial read that leaves you happy you've read it but slightly sad that you've finished it and the experience is over. Which brings me back to where I started. A.K.? More Cassie Raven please.
Thank you, Readers First, for a copy of this book. I was delighted to read it.
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