I listened to the audio narration of this book and it was excellent.

DI Maeve Kerrigan is on the case of a serial killer dubbed The Burning Man who beats his female victims to death before burning their bodies in public places when she's called out to Rebecca Hayworth's death, believed to be the latest victim. However, as Maeve investigates Rebecca's life, she feels like the killing might be something separate and instead of looking for one killer, she may be looking for two.

I really enjoyed this book, and I think Jane Casey hit the nail on the head when she came up with the character of Maeve who I think is one of my favourite leads I've followed in a crime series. I came into this book at possibly an advantage (or a disadvantage some might think) in that I've read the ninth book in this series, and the latest at the time of writing, so I've already met Maeve at a later point in her life and career. I do think this is a series you could popin and out of and you need to read them in order (as I read The Cutting Place with no confusion or issue) but I liked the writing and characters enough that I wanted to start with Maeve at the beginning.

I really like how Jane Casey introduces Maeve as a character as well as the group of (mostly) men she works with and how we come to know little by little the personalities and the relationships she has with all of the team. I actually confused Rob with someone completely different in the later book (Josh) and now I can't wait to see what happens with him as I really love the delicious dynamic going on between them, and I actually can't remember if it was ever discussed in The Cutting Place. It does seem though that Maeve may be the type of person that always has some kind of chemistry with a male colleague.

I did find the case in this book really interesting, and I was gripped to find out what happens. I definitely think the story of the Burning Man loses itself as it became second fiddle to what happened to Rebecca which feels slightly misleading as the blurb makes you think the book is purely about catching a serial killer (and it is, kind of). I wasn't totally enamoured with the ending, and I found the middle of the book probably the strongest part.

This book confirmed for me that this is a crime series I will really enjoy (having loved the first and last) and I can't wait to continue with all the books in the middle now.