Never Look Back by Clare Donoghue is a debut novel and it’s a pretty fair start to a series (I’m sure it’s going to be a series). Detective Inspector Mike Lockyer is head of homicide on the South London police force. He’s called early one January morning because a young girl has been found murdered.
His second in command, Jane Bennett, upon Mike’s getting to the scene of the crime, tries to warn him before he looks at the body, but it’s too late. This girl bears a remarkable resemblance to his seventeen year old daughter, Megan.
Unfortunately, the bodies start to pile up.
In a separate incident, another young woman, Sarah Grainger, reports that she is being stalked. Whoever it is has intensified his silent phone calls in the middle of the night.
Lockyer and his team investigate both crimes. Are they related?
In a side story, Lockyer deals with his younger autistic brother, in a group home. He never knew he had a brother until his parent’s passing, five years earlier.
There’s definitely action and suspense in Never Look Back. Lockyer and Bennett are good characters. They work well together and obviously care for each other.
I said at the beginning that Never Look Back was a pretty fair first novel–which I meant in a complimentary way. But if you were to ask me what would make it a great first novel, I wouldn’t be able to answer you. While I wouldn’t mind reading a sequel, I wouldn’t run to put it on my “do not miss” list.
Let me know what you think.
Two Heads Together 