Review by Booklist Review
The titular clique of elderly suicides may be the gentlest thing that Detective Stella Mooney encounters in the whole of this riveting thriller. Trouble is, one of them wasn't invited to the party: a dealer in morbid murderabilia whose life has been snipped short with surgical precision by a hand more skilled than his own. This is Ivo Perec, formerly of the Bosnian killing fields and now showing the London hooligans a thing or two about brutality as he restlessly awaits employment in some imminent bloodbath obscurely linked to the brisk refugee flesh trade. Tenacious Mooney takes blows from man and beast, brushing off the scars and tinnitus, but not the psychological toll of the daily descent into a city so forlorn that the grisly predations of a cold-blooded Serbian mass-murderer are remarkable only for their efficiency. Lawrence's spare, keen-edged prose ploughs with irresistible force through this grim hellscape, churning up shards of dark poetry in its wake. From the spontaneous dialogue to the clear, convincing procedure and the menacing atmosphere, there isn't a single false note in this striking debut, which earns pride of place deep in the darkest circle of noir, down past Ian Rankin and John Harvey to the shadows where lurk Ken Bruen and Derek Raymond. --David Wright Copyright 2004 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Rough dialogue, intricate plotting and cascading suspense mark British author Lawrence's excellent debut, in which four bodies are found sitting almost casually in a circle in a nondescript London flat: three are suicides, the fourth is stabbed through the heart. Det. Sgt. Stella Mooney, an intense, troubled and dogged investigator, learns that small-time crook Jimmy Stone, the murder victim, was an active trader in "murderabilia," such as a scene-of-crime photo of the Manson killings and O.J. Simpson's autograph. Jimmy's story is one of many subplots that lend depth to this absorbing police procedural. The trail leads Stella into contact with a crime family and into delicate turf wars and accommodations within her own organization as well as with other agencies whose aims are not always the same. The enslavement and prostitution of East European women is yet another element the author uses to telling effect, as is the crisis in Stella's relations with her housemate provoked by a persistent journalist. Lawrence smoothly shifts focus, allowing the reader to follow Stella, a prostitute, the journalist and a chillingly efficient and ruthless Serbian assassin, among other distinctive characters. Readers are sure to want to see more of the memorable Stella in further adventures. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Three of the four bodies sitting in a ring in a London flat are identified as elderly siblings in a suicide pact. The fourth turns out to be Jimmy Stone, a gofer for the notorious Tanner family, runner of drugs, guns, and girls. So begins Det. Sgt. Sheila Mooney's bedevilment. Dogged in her investigation of the murder, she disrupts a neighboring undercover operation and turns over another stone: the sexual exploitation of women lured from Eastern Europe by promises of visas and jobs. Nearing the breaking point at work, Sheila also has to wrestle with personal issues; haunted by nightmares of a former case, she is also torn between her longtime live-in partner, George, and freelance journalist John Delany, who can be as aggravating as he is enticing. This British import is engrossing: it's a gritty, noirish police procedural about the "near-to-the-knuckle" work done by cops who care about what they do. Another Stella Mooney mystery is hinted at, and it can't come too soon; this series is to be devoutly desired. Michele Leber, Arlington, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A London detective battles personal demons while unraveling a complicated crime puzzle. Police Sergeant Stella Mooney is investigating the odd death of elderly nonconformist sisters Joanna and Caroline Deever, found in their flat along with brother Conrad and another unidentified male corpse. The Deevers, all in poor health, evidently carried out a suicide pact including odd man out Jimmy Stone, a petty criminal who trafficked on the Internet in "murderabilia," souvenirs and artifacts from high-profile convicted killers, not a career likely to win friends. A fourth Deever sibling, Henry, seems to know more than he's telling, but he takes a fatal header off the building's roof before Stella can elicit any useful information. Her probe includes the seamy world surrounding Stone's business, a prostitution ring, and the London arm of the Serbian mafia. Her most colorful discovery is street hustler Billy Whizz, whose pet Barbary ape--the latest status symbol among the local underworld--tries to take a chunk out of Stella's neck. On a gentler note, Stella's lived with kindly George for over five years, though she's never told him about her vivid recurrent nightmares or about the psychiatrist she visits regularly to expunge them. Now she's pursued by Delaney, an investigative reporter bent on solving her case. Brash, complex, and beautifully written. An auspicious series debut with the compellingly flawed Stella at its heart. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
