Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Deadly Cravings by OMJ Ryan Series: Detective Jane Phillips #8
Published by Inkubator Books on October 2, 2022
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Pages: 291
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads
Amazon
After a lengthy leave of absence, DCI Jane Phillips is back in Major Crimes, neck deep in the most macabre murder investigation of her career.
The naked body of a famous sportsman has been laid out in a churchyard, wrapped in a white shawl, surrounded by flowers. Stranger still, his heart is missing.
With such a high profile victim, the pressure to find the murderer is instant and extreme. And it only increases when the killer strikes again – leaving behind another mutilated body, posed in exactly the same way.
With no obvious connection between the two victims, Phillips turns to profiler Dr. Siobhan Harris. Can she help to identify the perpetrator or discover the motive behind these brutal murders?
But no one could have prepared Phillips for what the doctor is about to reveal.
The Detective Jane Phillips series continues to evolve. Jane has been on leave for months with her new boyfriend Adam. Now she and Adam are going back to work and have to figure out how to navigate work life balance with critical, demanding jobs. Jane still has her boss, Carter, to deal with all the administrative and politics things which would hamper her ability to solve cases. Her team is happy to have her back.
The case is a serial killer. The connection between cases is obvious in the staging of the bodies but not in the reasoning or how the victims are found. The team does their work. The relationships are all resettled with Jane back in charge and deftly solving a difficult case in the end.
Jane’s focus on her personal life felt weird. She did not do a great job of compartmentalizing work at work and home at home. Jane seemed kind of like she was watching both lives but not participating in them. So I didn’t get the emotional connection to either here.
I enjoy this series a lot and look forward to further cases with Jane more settled and participating in her life and work.
About OMJ Ryan
Hailing from Yorkshire, OMJ Ryan worked in radio and entertainment for over twenty years, collaborating with household names and accumulating a host of international writing and radio awards. In 2018 he followed his passion to become a full-time novelist, writing stories for people who devour exciting, fast-paced thrillers by the pool, on their commute – or those rare moments of downtime before bed. Owen’s mission is to entertain from the first page to the last.
I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 22-COYER
Wonderful review. I do enjoy the occasional police procedural and since this is set in the UK it certainly appeals to me.
yes I’ve liked this series quite a lot. The first had an audio version and I love having that. This one was different because the personal aspects had so much of a portion of the story.
This does sound like a really good series! Here’s hoping my library has this one.
It’s all Kindle Unlimited at this time.
Wonderful review. I don’t read many police procedurals, but this sounds good.
Thank you Wendy. I read a LOT of police procedurals. This one is good but there are ones I would recommend more highly. Let me know if you need recs.
I still have the first book to listen to and am glad you’re still enjoying the series after eight books. Need to bump this up. Great review, Anne💜
It’s pretty good. I’d like it better if they all got audio.
This sounds like it had a ton of potential that it didn’t totally live up to. Sounds like a worthwhile read though.
I think the rest of the series was much better.
Hopefully the next one you’ll get more of an emotional connection!
All the earlier books in the series were more connected so hopefully this is just a transition one.