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Saturday, October 19, 2019

Review: One Step Ahead by Denver Murphy

Author: Denver Murphy
Publisher: The Book Folks
Publication Date: January 2019

Retired from the force, Detective Superintendent Jeffrey Brandt goes native. He stabs a woman but holds back from killing her. Frustrated that no one takes any notice, he ups his game. Next time, he’ll kill.

Brandt fully knows how the police work. He’ll use this knowledge to win a sick game; after all, he’s chosen the rules.

The crime scenes are spotless, Brandt’s covered his tracks. There is no forensic evidence. Yet each killing has his unmistakeable print.

Faced with the challenge of discovering his identity is DCI Stella Johnson. Quick-witted and uncompromising, she rises to Brandt’s macabre challenge. But if she finds the killer, what will she do given that he is always one step ahead?

Who will win this mortal battle of wits between hunter and hunted?


One Step Ahead was a pleasant surprise.  It was a random pick off my library's Overdrive site.  The first in a trilogy, it features a disgruntled retired Police Detective who decides to turn into a serial killer.  The story is told in the  duel perspectives of DS Jeffery Brandt (the serial killer) and DCI Stella Johnson.  

What I really liked about this book was getting into the head of Brandt and seeing his rationale for turning to this particular life of crime.  We also get to see his slow decline into madness as well as how he progresses to get more and more violent in his attacks.  I really liked the main character, Stella.  She is a very smart and intuitive detective.  Even though we, the readers,  know who is committing the murders, it was still interesting to watch Stella and her partner figure things out.  

The book ends on a major cliffhanger.  I definitely want to continue with the trilogy to see what comes next for these characters.


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