Blind Date by
Frances Fyfield
pbk out February 99
(Corgi)
at £5.99
It's a risky business when crime writers abandon their beloved series characters. Readers are disconcerted by strangeness where they expected familiarity, even feel cheated. But nobody need fear getting anything less than twice their money's worth from Frances Fyfield's latest nail-biting thriller despite the absence of Helen West or Sarah Fortune.
An ex-policewoman is recovering from an attack that has left her almost too weak and damaged to look after herself. Almost, but not quite, for struggling alone is infinitely preferable to Elisabeth Kennedy than being under the stifling roof of her mother's house, particularly with the memories it holds of her murdered sister, a crime whose botched prosecution she played a key role in.
But back in her daunting church tower home in London, Elisabeth finds she's not allowed to be alone. A mysterious stranger has moved in and assumed responsibility for her well-being. And meanwhile, the women who look for company through the services of a dating agency are discovering too late that they're looking for love in all the wrong places.
With its echoes of the Rachel Nickell murder, this is a genuinely frightening read that grips like a cold hand round the throat. Add to the suspense the stylish writing of one of our most intelligent and literate crime novelists, toss in a plot whose dizzying twists and turns produce a final shock that turns the whole book on its head, and the reader is faced with what will surely be one of the best thrillers of the year.
(
Val McDermid
- Gold Dagger winner & creator of Lindsay Gordon, Kate Brannigan & Tony Hill)
Blind Date by
Frances Fyfield