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Nicci French, γεμάτο εκπλήξεις και αγωνιώδεις ανατροπές, αλλά και πολλές στιγμές συγκίνησης. Ιδιαίτερη αναφορά αξίζει να γίνει στο γεγονός πως αυτήν τη φορά το θύμα δεν είναι άγνωστο ούτε στη Φρίντα, ούτε στο περιβάλλον της, ούτε και στον αναγνώστη. Αξίζει λοιπόν να αναφερθεί ο ιδιαίτερα προσεχτικός και ‘τρυφερός’ τρόπος των συγγραφέων στη σκιαγράφηση της εξέλιξης της υπόθεσης, αλλά και στα συναισθήματα των ηρώων. Είναι πάντα δύσκολο να αποχαιρετάς έναν ήρωά σου, κάποιον που δημιούργησες και εξέλιξες για τόσα βιβλία, και είναι πάντα δύσκολο να κάνεις το αναγνωστικό κοινό να το αποδεχτεί. Πρέπει να το στήσεις καλά, να το δικαιολογήσεις, να δικαιώσεις τον ήρωα και την απόφασή σου. Το συγγραφικό δίδυμο εδώ το πετυχαίνει, και το «αντίο» είναι συγκινητικό, νοσταλγικό, ένας επίλογος αντάξιος του εν λόγω χαρακτήρα.
A thought-provoking, fast-paced, well written thriller containing several twists and a surprise ending, this novel will appeal to fans Perhaps Scott & Bailey will prove the exception to this rule of loneliness and instability: a complicated and intimate female friendship and working partnership lies at the heart of the show (which was created by women and written, again, by Wainwright) and this friendship is the foundation for its success and staying power. There might be frictions and rivalries, but the two detectives share secrets and a wry humour, drink pints of beer and glasses of wine together, bring humanity and wit to a world of poverty and gruesome murder. The two of them and their female boss normalise female authority in a way that a woman alone cannot. A body under the floorboards, a body in a freezer, a drugged niece in a graveyard. Those things were the start of it. I'm not going to waste too much time on how this is such a good book and the characters, plot, pacing, setting etc etc are as good as always. I'll make an exception in writing a bit about Frieda, as even two people who know her well find it necessary to warn the investigating officer that Frieda is different. Her demeanor is usually taken as cold and indifferent by those who don't know her well, whereas first impressions could not be more wrong concerning Frieda.
Books Like Nicci French’s Frieda Klein:
Like most successful series, this one is full of good characters, Frieda herself is a complicated character that interacts well with other regular character such as DCI Karlson, builder Josef and of course the likeable Reuben. There’s no denying that Frieda is a bit of an odd character. She’s a loner who prefers long walks around London at night to socialising although over the last four books we’ve seen people shoehorn themselves into her lives: Josef, the Ukrainian builder, Sasha a woman who came to her as a patient being taken advantage of by her therapist, DCI Karlsson who first requested her help and the people she has time for, her niece Chloe and Chloe’s often incapable mother Olivia and Reuben, Frieda’s former supervisor and analyst. There’s also her on/off lover Sandy who disappears and reappears regularly depending on whether or not Frieda is comfortable with him at any given time. This book provides perhaps the most development of their relationship although that development is mostly puzzling. Incidents and murders were coming too close to home for Frieda. She couldn’t figure out the message Dean was trying to get to Frieda, but Frieda knew it was a message of evil, sadness, and death. But was it really Dean? Was he really still alive as Frieda and only Frieda believed or could there be a copycat added to the mix?
As a long-time fan of Nicci French novels I was delighted when my ‘in-person’ bookclub, Whodunit, selected “Blue Monday” as our group read for the month of September. Sophisticated, gripping, addictive. Crime novels that stand head and shoulders above the competition.”—Sophie Hannah, bestselling author of Woman with a SecretFrieda is approached by an old schoolmate asking for help with her teenage daughter who has stopped eating and has become withdrawn. For in this female world, the detective is also a victim. The walls between the professional and private worlds collapse and this allows the viewer to identify with the character, as we can never identify with the expert, the invulnerable or the flawless. Few of TV’s female detectives become enduring staples in the way of Morse, Wexford and the rest – perhaps because the pressure of the women’s interior worlds must always explode outwards. They cannot be the stable centre of a drama lasting years or decades.