James Hayman (1) (–2023)

It's entertaining enough but nothing groundbreaking. Some parts felt pretty slow while the ending felt too rushed for me. This is the McCabe and Savage series, referring to Michael McCabe and his partner Maggie Savage, but this is definitely more focused on the McCabe side of that equation. Maggie was barely a part of this story and then they have the nerve to set up a potential romance between them at the end like we've never seen that before.

Their partnership definitely felt a bit stereotypical with the grizzled male cop and the sensitive woman partner who throws up at the sight of a body. There are some other issues with this story too that age it a bit. This book came out in 2009 and there some outdated stuff with regards to sexuality, there's one scene with a lot of body shaming, and a few other off handed remarks I didn't love. Nothing so bad as to make me stop reading but just stuff that showed the book's age a bit.

I did like McCabe's relationship with his daughter but the plot with him and his ex-wife is so drawn out and then she never actually comes into the story.
I also didn't think there were enough twists to throw me off who the murderer was, which made the story feel really drawn out. I felt like I knew who the killer was really early and then you're just reading about the police work that goes into getting evidence for that conclusion. That may be accurate to how it works but it's boring to read about.
Some of the writing from the victim's perspective was genuinely creepy but some of the other perspectives felt useless such as Hattie, it really didn't end up mattering because she was just murdered after doing nothing except reminiscing on the backstory of her husband so we the reader could find that out. The author should have figured out a different way to communicate that rather than having this nothing character with no motivations or personality who exists just to be murdered..

I would consider continuing with this series because it's entertaining enough but I would like to see how the relationship between McCabe and Savage evolves and if some issues I have get fixed in later books. If they don't I'll probably give up on this series.… (mer)

Michael McCabe and Maggie Savage are drawn into another bizarre and savage murder mystery. Dr. Emily Kaplan, is savagely attacked, shortly after this a young girl...a stranger...arrives at her clinic but then flees in fear. Emily follows her in an attempt to help her. The girl is brutally murdered, and Emily is almost killed. thus, begins a story that revolves around the drug Oxycontin. There were multiple blind alleys as the story unfolded and you just can’t help exploring each one looking for the t answer to the mystery. A good one...and well worth the time to spend with McCabe and Savage.… (mer)