BLURB:

DISCOVER A BRAND-NEW SERIES FROM BESTSELLING AUTHOR JANICE FROST.

Meet Jane Bell. After her husband dies she leaves her job as a teacher to volunteer as a special constable with the police.

On her very first shift Jane is called to the scene of a murder. A young man has dragged himself to the top of Greestone Stairs to die. Following her instincts, Jane finds herself becoming very involved in the case . . .

For Detective Steph Warwick, specials have no place in a murder investigation — and this upstart rookie is meddling where she doesn’t belong.

The victim ran a group at the university teaching men how to pick up women. Jane and Steph must venture into a dark and dangerous world of online misogyny.

Steph knows about abusive men. But can she work with Jane to put this killer behind bars?

MURDER AMONG FRIENDS is the tantalizing first instalment in the new Warwick and Bell series.

Perfect for fans of Ruth Rendell, Helen H. Durrant and Michael Hambling.

MEET THE DETECTIVES
SPC Jane Bell is forty-five, a widow of three years following the premature death of her husband, Sam. She has two grown-up children, Patrick and Norah, who are pursuing careers in London. After Sam’s death, Jane makes some changes to her life. She downsizes from their large family home in the country to a cottage in Lincoln.

DI Stephanie Warwick is thirty-five. She left school at eighteen and worked in a bank before joining the police force. She is haunted by her ex-boyfriend, Cal. He attempted to kill her twelve years ago, and murdered her best friend.

MY THOUGHTS:

I requested this book on NetGalley, and this review is 100% my own opinion.

I chose to read this book because the blurb sounded absolutely fantastic, right my cup of tea. A rookie constable and a seasoned detective working together? Yeah, tell me more. And their backgrounds sounded intriguing enough. But that’s about it. My expectations had been way higher than what I found in the book.

The premise is really interesting and original, but the pace is quite slow and there is too much telling. The narrator gives too many details in some scenes that don’t add much to the story. Some information gets repeated several times, because we see different characters telling the same events to different people.

I also had a very hard time connecting with both the main characters. Jane behaves like a proper meddler, and Steph’s behavior is plainly irrational at best, and appallingly cruel other times. Their lack of chemistry did nothing to make me like them. I’m sure that most of their mutual and personal problems will be solved in future books in the series, but I don’t feel compelled to go on reading them.

The ending seemed abrupt to me and not very satisfactory. It felt like the easy route to take. And I won’t say more because I don’t want to reveal anything.

For all of that, I give this book… 2 ¹/₂ TEA CUPS!