The second book (after Blue Monday) in the Frieda Klein crime series is set in 2011 during a dreary London winter. Once again psychiatric therapist Frieda Klein is called on by Deputy Chief Inspector Karlsson to help solve a complicated case. A decomposed body has been found in the flat of a deranged woman who collects bits of rubbish left on the banks of the Thames. Who is the man and how did he die? Using her ingenuity and with help from her friends, Frieda learns he was a conman living under an assumed name and, though beloved by many of his victims, was murdered. Bedeviled by issues of identity, fraud, and a master manipulator's multiple victims, the case forces Frieda to confront not only her own dark past and the unsettled lives of her family members but also the disturbing situations of everyone inveigled by the dead man.
VERDICT The 16th novel written by husband-and-wife team Nicci Gerrard and Sean French starts as a grim psychological thriller in the vein of Dennis Lehane's darker novels and turns into a fascinating puzzle in which character analysis holds sway. Highly recommended for fans of psychological suspense who enjoy a complex protagonist. [See Prepub Alert, 10/28/12.]
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