Sole Survivor (DI Jemima Huxley #2) by Gaynor Torrance
Genre: Crime fiction, Police procedural, Thriller
Read: 18th June 2020
Purchase: Amazon
(publication date: 6th March 2020)
★★★★ 4 stars
SOLE SURVIVOR is the second in the DI Jemima Huxley series set in the north Cardiff area of South Wales. If you missed the previous book, don't worry as this can be read as a standalone. After a particularly gruesome case in the first book "Revenge", which was one of the most shocking cases of her career, Jemima returns several months later after having to face some of her personal demons that often clouded her judgement.
Jemima is on a rare day off when she receives a call to another particularly gruesome murder scene. Details are sketchy but upon arriving at the scene in the exclusive Briarmarsh Close, she is shocked to learn that the entire Rathbone family has been butchered, leaving four dead. Only the teenage daughter Millie survived but her injuries are so brutal it is uncertain if she will recover and she remains in a critical condition in hospital.
Jemima and her team begin questioning friends and neighbours of the family, revealing some interesting family dynamics. Bradley Rathbone was a psychiatrist at the University Hospital of Wales while his wife Sally was a doctor in private practice. The two teenage children were Jonathan and Lauren and were Bradley's brother's children, their parents having been killed in a boating accident the year before. Millie, the sole survivor, is Bradley's daughter from his first marriage whose mother is currently serving a prison sentence for the murder of her 10 month old baby when Millie was 7 years old.
Robbery was quickly ruled out as the crime scene was particularly vicious. No burglar would expend so much energy into stabbing one victim thirty five times and seventeen for another. Particularly given that the two teenage victims were suffocated prior to being stabbed. Why even bother to stab them so viciously if they are already dead? This in itself displayed a huge amount of rage towards the victims. And if that was the case, why kill the parents? Is it some kind of personal vendetta? Was someone out for revenge against the family? Was there a prime target? Or was this just a random attack? So many questions left unanswered has Jemima searching for clues that will lead them to the killer.
Then when Jemima learns that Brad's first wife Isobel has been released from prison, she becomes their prime suspect as the team begin to search for her whereabouts and Jemima wonders if Millie, as the sole survivor, is suddenly at risk.
There are a wealth of suspects to consider as the team dig further to uncover the truth. From a teacher to the next door neighbour to a psychotic patient to an ex-wife who was in prison for murder...everyone seems to have a different version of the family. So who is lying and who is telling the truth?
Meanwhile Jemima has problems on the home front. Ever since her husband Nick outed her self harming to her boss things have been strained between the couple. Not to mention the time she took an innocent walk with her godson Harry at his christening party, leaving everyone frantic with worry that she had kidnapped him, Jemima was shocked to discover that Nick believed she had done just that. Now the couple have Nick's son James living with them after the tragic death of his mother in a car accident, but Jemima appears to be more of a parent to James than Nick, who sits in the kitchen drinking from dawn till dusk...accusing Jemima of caring about her job more than them. But then the couple receive some devastating news that will turn their worlds upside down, as Jemima tries to stay strong for young James.
I have to say I much preferred Jemima in this book than I did in the first one, where she bored on self-absorption to the point of obsession. In SOLE SURVIVOR, she has been to counselling - albeit forced, but incredibly helpful - and while she was unable to have a child of her own, she now finds herself a parent to James who she loves just as much as if he were her own. She has a good camaraderie with her team who are all incredibly likable, making reading the book a pleasant experience. I must also add that I love the pathologist, John Prethero, and his wicked sense of humour.
I really enjoyed SOLE SURVIVOR even though I had worked out who was responsible from very early on. But that never spoils my enjoyment or detracts from the story as it is always a guessing game anyway...I could have been wrong.
Although incredibly well written, I did find SOLE SURVIVOR to be a little slower paced that the previous book which had me on tenterhooks from start to finish. However, Gaynor Torrance has a tendency to shock as both books so far in this promising series lead the reader through tension-filled moments culminating to shocking conclusions. While I did suspect the killer, there were definitely some shocking moments throughout the book.
An excellent addition to what is becoming a promising new series, SOLE SURVIVOR is a a unique mix of thriller and police procedural, though not for the fainthearted. Recommended for fans who like their crime thrillers dark.
I would like to thank #GaynorTorrance, #NetGalley and #SapereBooks for an ARC of #SoleSurvivor in exchange for an honest review.
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