Rating: 5/5
Review:
Another very good Manon novel
I think this is a quite brilliant series. Susie Steiner has created
a wonderful, believable character in Manon Bradshaw and her other
characters are just as good. The plot here is probably the weakest
of the three books so far, but it’s still very good indeed. It
would be best to read Missing, Presumed first, but this stands up
well on its own.
In Persons Unknown,
Manon is pregnant and has returned to Cambridgeshire after a spell
with the Met and is now working cold cases. The murder of a City
banker is investigated by her old team, and people very close to
Manon come under suspicion. It’s a plot which requires
considerable suspension of disbelief, with a number of pretty
far-fetched coincidences especially, but the chief pleasure of these
books is Steiner’s shrewd, humane characterisation. There were
times when I felt that Manon’s personal life and struggles was
taking rather too much space at the expense of the story (and Susie
Steiner plainly hasn’t had a good experience of maternity wards),
but its still a delight to read, thoroughly gripping and very
involving.
The whole of this
series is way above the standard of most contemporary crime fiction
and I can recommend this one very warmly.
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