Now You See Me (Lacey Flint 1) by SJ Bolton

Ripping yarn!

🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

Since the new Lacey Flint novel, Like This, For Ever is due out in April, it seems like a good time to post the reviews of the earlier books. I’ve been lucky enough to get the chance to read an advance copy of the new one and will be posting a review shortly. For readers new to the series, do read them in order – although each is a stand-alone story, they refer back to the previous stories and Lacey’s character and relationships develop as the series progresses. Now You See Me is the first and though, for my money, it’s also the weakest, (though still very good), it’s where we get to know a lot about what makes Lacey tick. Here’s the review I posted on Amazon…

A serial killer is on the loose and copying the crimes of Jack the Ripper. This well-written story is told in the first person, through the eyes of young policewoman Lacey Flint, who has had a life-long fascination with the Ripper story. At first, it seems accidental that Lacey should have been the one to find the first body, but when the killer starts sending letters to the press, it becomes clear that she is being targeted in some way.

SJ Bolton
(amazon.co.uk)

The plot twists and turns cleverly throughout the book. At least twice I thought I had it all worked out, but wrongly each time. However, I didn’t warm to many of the characters and found it difficult to empathise with Lacey in particular. I felt the first-person narrative became a problem in the second half of the book when it was obvious that Lacey knew far more than she was telling. Though this was necessary to maintain the suspense, I felt it created a distance between Lacey and the reader. Ultimately, I also found the plot to be stretching the bounds of plausibility.

But despite these criticisms, what could have been a standard serial killer novel was raised above the average by the quality of the writing and the author’s ability to misdirect. The suspense was maintained to the very end. Well worth reading and I’ll be looking out for more from this author.

Looking back at this review a couple of years on, I realise it’s less than glowing but I’m glad I stuck with the series because in the next one, Dead Scared, Lacey came into her own in a big way.

NB This book was provided for review by Amazon Vine UK.

Amazon UK Link
Amazon US Link