Stone Cold Heart

May 1, 2019
Detective Cat Kinsella of London's Metropolitan Police returns to solve the murder of a young Australian woman in Frear's (Sweet Little Lies, 2018) latest procedural. Cat's still spooked from the fallout of the Maryanne Doyle case; it brought her and Aiden Doyle together, sure, but she can't tell anyone about their romance. Still, she and her partner, DS Luigi Parnell, are on good working terms, and the rest of the team is holding their own, with beautiful, unpredictable DCI Kate Steele still making everyone's life hell but also keeping them to high standards. Called to a crime scene, they find the body of a young woman. Of course, the layers of lies and family tension quickly mount: Naomi Lockhart, the dead woman, was temping at a recruitment firm owned by Kirstie Connor, whose husband, Marcus, runs a charity for ex-felons, including Naomi's roommate. Marcus' sister, Rachel, is married to Joseph, who has made no secret of his numerous infidelities and actually had propositioned Cat several months before. And then there's Rachel and Joseph's daughter, an aspiring forensic investigator. As the detectives scramble to find evidence that proves the guilt of the prime suspect, they find more and more inconsistencies in all these stories. Throughout it all, Cat struggles to keep her mind clear and her personal relationships solid; Aiden resents the fact that she won't introduce him around, and her dad's old "colleague" Frank Hickey is making ominous suggestions of blackmail. He will expose what Cat has done to protect her father if she doesn't help him in return. The characters' banter is a delight. Frear writes scenes of conversation between the detectives that make them all feel like familiar old friends--to each other but also to the reader. The mystery, however, is less compelling in this second outing. Ultimately, the discovery of the perpetrator feels a bit obvious and anticlimactic, not so much careful police work as a story in need of better editing. The emphasis on the minutiae of the investigation will be interesting, perhaps, to fans of CSI, but even they may chafe at the slow pace.

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May 20, 2019
British author Frear’s engrossing follow-up to 2018’s Sweet Little Lies finds 26-year-old Det. Constable Cat Kinsella of the London Metropolitan Police’s Murder Investigation Team hunting 22-year-old Naomi Lockhart’s killer. The night she died, Naomi attended a party thrown by Kirstie Connor, her boss at the recruitment firm where she worked as a temp. The next day, Naomi’s roommate, ex-con and personal trainer Kieran Drake, discovered her in their living room with her head bashed in. All evidence points to Kirstie’s brother-in-law, philandering barista Joseph Madden, who also attended the gathering, but he insists that someone is framing him. As Cat and her colleagues dig into Joseph’s turbulent marriage, she struggles with her own thorny relationship issues. Exceptional characters elevate this otherwise unremarkable police procedural. Nuanced interactions combine with Cat’s inner monologue to imbue even the most mundane scenes with tension and subtext. Frear caps a satisfying mystery with a fraught cliffhanger. Fans will clamor for more.

May 1, 2019
In Sweet Little Lies (2018), London Detective Constable Cat Kinsella still had one foot in her tortured childhood. This second novel in the series finds Cat more grown up; she still has a more criminal-leaning family than she'd like, given her career choice, but is getting on with it. There's one stumbling block: her boyfriend doesn't know that her family was involved in his sister's death, a secret that's increasingly hard to keep. That problem is swept to the side, however, when Cat's department is tasked with solving the murder of a young woman, their prime suspect a toxically narcissistic man whom readers will love to hate. The story, characters, and language here immerse readers in a twisty case that involves more than one dysfunctional family. Frear almost ties all these strands up neatly at the end, until Cat's past comes back to bite her again, leaving things ripe for book three. Frear's fans will enjoy the focus on grown-up Cat; Dervla McTiernan's readers are another likely audience.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

June 1, 2019

In this follow-up to Frear's debut, Sweet Little Lies, Det. Cat Kinsella and partner Luigi Parnell investigate the death of a young woman, who recently moved to London from Australia and had very few social connections, leaving no obvious motive for her murder. The investigation eventually leads to Joseph Madden, owner of a coffeeshop whom Cat has previously encountered. His narcissistic behavior presents a vastly different image than who he really is, but does that mean he's a murderer? Meanwhile, Cat's contentious family dynamics threaten to expose her relationship with boyfriend Aiden, which she must keep secret owing to a conflict of interest with her career. Readers need not have read the previous book to enjoy the mystery, but some aspects of Cat's behavior and personal relationships may not be as well appreciated. Frear once again excels at creating memorable characters and realistic dialog. Cat's snarky attitude and youthful brashness are nicely balanced with her passion for justice and investigative skills. VERDICT Highly recommended for fans of police procedurals with compelling detectives. [See Prepub Alert, 1/7/19.]--Anitra Gates, Erie Cty. P.L., PA

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2019

Having won an international following with the debut novel Sweet Little Lies, DC Cat Kinsella of the London Metropolitan Police returns to investigate the murder of a young Australian woman following a party hosted by her new boss. The main suspect claims that he was home with his wife at the time, but she denies it. Who's lying? With a 35,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.