The Killer’s Girl
(Detective Morgan Brookes #2) 
by Helen Phifer 

‘Mama, wake up.’

The little girl reached for her mother’s face with one pudgy hand. But the eyes stayed closed, and the blood continued to trickle across the floor.

When the body of a young woman is found, tied to her bed and the victim of a brutal attack in her own home, Detective Morgan Brookes is sickened by what she finds as she searches the house. And unprepared for the nightmares it inspires about her childhood.

When the DNA collected gives a positive ID, Morgan can’t wait to put the attacker behind bars. But the person it matches to is already in prison. How could the DNA of someone who has been locked up for over twenty years have shown up in Morgan’s crime scene? And then they make another close match. To Morgan herself.

Faced with the impossible proof that she is somehow connected to this case, Morgan delves deep into the crimes of a killer who stalked the Lake District two decades ago. But distracted by the old case, she misses the signs that he has found a new victim. And when he strikes close to home, Morgan finally realizes that she has been living on borrowed time. To find this killer, it’s clear she must confront the nightmares in her past…

A heart-racing, nerve-wracking crime thriller. Fans of Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott, and Patricia Gibney will be completely gripped.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Despite him being in love with himself, there was no denying his black hair, tanned skin and brown eyes were easy on the eye. It was no wonder women swooned over him, not that she’d ever tell him that; his head was big enough.

If she did agree to come stay at his house, he was going to have to go shopping and clean up. Living alone meant a different takeaway every night and getting the polish out when the dust was too thick to see the image clearly on the TV screen.

I’d rather shit in my hands and clap…

My Review:

Poor Morgan, she seems to attract trouble as fast as my thighs amass cellulite, which apparently is exponential. I am rather new to police procedurals but I am lapping up this series and developing quite a taste for them while enjoying the devious and conniving wordcraft of Helen Phifer, she is a master of misdirection. She kept me guessing while the killer was front and center the whole time. The storylines were intriguing, interestingly detailed, and thrummed with tension. Her characters are more than a bit fractured and weary, yet endearing and oddly compelling. I am besotted and enamored with Declan and hope he will be featured in greater detail in a subsequent installment.

In addition to an absorbing and gripping read, Ms. Phifer has also provided me with the latest addition to my Brit Words and Phrases list with “I’ll be mother,” which Mr. Google tells me means being in charge of the teapot.   Oddly, Mr. Google had no idea what “being father” would mean – I would suspect sneaking off to the pub.