Book Review : Scared To Death By Rachel Amphlett

Scared To Death is the first of the new Kay Hunter crime thrillers by Rachel Amphlett and for those of you that like a long running series I have good news since there will be at least 4 books, the second of which ,Will To Live comes out in April.

PLOT A serial killer murdering for kicks. A detective seeking revenge.

When the body of a snatched schoolgirl is found in an abandoned biosciences building, the case is first treated as a kidnapping gone wrong.

But Detective Kay Hunter isn’t convinced, especially when a man is found dead with the ransom money still in his possession.

When a second schoolgirl is taken, Kay’s worst fears are realised.

With her career in jeopardy and desperate to conceal a disturbing secret, Kay’s hunt for the killer becomes a race against time before he claims another life.

For the killer, the game has only just begun...

What a fantastic way to be introduced to Rachel Amphlett, scared to death grabs you from the word go and gets straight to the point, which I like , there’s no fucking about here  . It's generously paced and the chapters are reasonably short ,which makes it easy to binge read multiple chapters at a time .I’m pretty certain that if I’d had the time I could have finished it in one go .

Scared To Death is an excellent police procedural, easily as good as the Inspector Banks or Harry Bosch books, in fact I’d go as far as saying Kay Hunter is the female equivalent of those guys.

Eli Matthews the man behind the murder and the kidnapping and attempted murder of two school girls is one seriously fucked up individual and his story is a sad one , you almost end up feeling sorry for him .

I found the main cast of characters to be okay, all the usual suspects of a modern police team are there and I’m sure they will develop more over the coming books.

 I love it when I read a new series and instantly like the main character, It happened with Jack Reacher, DCI Banks,Bosch , Bond , Rebus and I think kay hunter deserves a place on that list.

Verdict : Cracker, a promising start to a potentially great new series.