Score: 4/5 Bookmarks

We read The Jigsaw Man by Nadine Matheson as our August pick for Three Friends Book Club, and I enjoyed it so much. I’ve had a few months of almost exclusively reading romances so it was fun to get into something gritty and dark.

This is the first in the Inspector Anjelica Henley series, and while I wasn’t able to dig up a publication date for the next book, I am always here for a female detective so I’ll definitely be reading it when it comes out!

Bits of people are being found along the edge of the River Thames, and DI Angelica Henley is thrown into the investigation. Things start to look eerily familiar to a case she closed years ago, but it can’t possibly be the same man, because he’s been put away for life. As the investigation progresses it becomes clear that the copycat has taken a special interest in her personally, and she’s going to need to talk to the original Jigsaw Man to get answers.

You’ll want a strong stomach for this one, but wow did it keep me on the edge of my seat. I quite literally couldn’t put it down once I’d started! I loved Angelica’s character, she felt real and flawed, and strong. She was subjected to lots of racist and disbelieving comments every time she introduced herself as DI Henley, and you really got a glimpse into how much harder she had to work than her male or white colleagues to get where she was in her career. Mental health was brought up a lot throughout the book too, which I thought was really interesting. I can’t imagine the toll that sort of job, and case, would take on a person.

If you’re looking for a spine-tingling read and enjoy police procedurals, female detectives, and books set in the UK as much as I do you’ll definitely want to pick this up.

Synopsis:

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...

When body parts are found on the banks of the River Thames in Deptford, DI Angelica Henley is tasked with finding the killer. Eerie echoes of previous crimes lead Henley to question Peter Olivier, aka The Jigsaw Killer, who is currently serving a life sentence for a series of horrific murders.

When a severed head is delivered to Henley's home, she realises that the copycat is taking a personal interest in her and that the victims have not been chosen at random.

To catch the killer, Henley must confront her own demons - - and when Olivier escapes from prison, she finds herself up against not one serial killer, but two.