Stephanie Jane recenzis The Second Stage of Grief de Katherine Hayton
Gripping!
4 steloj
The Second Stage Of Grief is the second in Katherine Hayton's Ngaire Blakes crime series, both of which are published by Kindle Press. I enjoyed the first novel, The Three Deaths Of Magdalene Lynton, and am happy to say I think this story is even better! Ngaire is (was) a Maori policewoman in Christchurch, New Zealand, and I love how Hayton uses language and colloquialisms to bring a strong Kiwi feel to her writing. The atmosphere is very different to comparable British or American crime fiction which makes a refreshing change. In this book, we learn more about Ngaire and her past which increases her complexity as a person and also illustrates differences between her conflicting ancestries - as a Maori on her father's side and white on her mother's side. While this provides important depth, I think The Second Stage Of Grief could be read as a stand-alone novel …
The Second Stage Of Grief is the second in Katherine Hayton's Ngaire Blakes crime series, both of which are published by Kindle Press. I enjoyed the first novel, The Three Deaths Of Magdalene Lynton, and am happy to say I think this story is even better! Ngaire is (was) a Maori policewoman in Christchurch, New Zealand, and I love how Hayton uses language and colloquialisms to bring a strong Kiwi feel to her writing. The atmosphere is very different to comparable British or American crime fiction which makes a refreshing change. In this book, we learn more about Ngaire and her past which increases her complexity as a person and also illustrates differences between her conflicting ancestries - as a Maori on her father's side and white on her mother's side. While this provides important depth, I think The Second Stage Of Grief could be read as a stand-alone novel because its crime narrative is entirely self-contained and there are enough brief nods to Three Deaths to establish Ngaire's backstory.
The Second Stage Of Grief only partly focuses on the police investigation of what becomes a series of coldly violent murders. Alongside this, we follow Ngaire as she flees threats in Christchurch to her father's rural town which I thought Hayton evoked very well enabling me to easily envisage the poverty and strong community. Ngaire's taciturn father is great to read about and his character contrasts well with the urbane Christchurch police. Hayton keeps up a good pace throughout her exciting novel and I found myself gripped, unwilling to put the book down as I just had to find out what happened next!