Sunday 3 April 2016

The Girl Who Walked in the Shadows by Marnie Riches - blog tour review

I am delighted to be today's stop on the BLOG TOUR for Marnie Riches' The Girl Who Walked in the Shadows, which was published on 31 March 2016 by Maze (Avon).


The Girl Who Walked in the Shadows
By Marnie Riches
Published by Avon/Maze (31 March 2016)



Publisher's description
Europe is in the grip of an extreme Arctic blast and at the mercy of a killer, who leaves no trace. His weapons of choice are razor-sharp icicles. This is Jack Frost.
Now a fully qualified criminologist, Georgina McKenzie is called upon by the Dutch police to profile this cunning and brutal murderer. Are they looking for a hit man or a frenzied serial-killer? Could there be a link to a cold missing persons’ case that George had worked with Chief Inspector Paul van den Bergen – two abducted toddlers he could never quite give up on?

The hunt for Jack Frost sparks a dangerous, heart-rending journey through the toughest neighbourhoods in Europe, where refugees and Roma gypsies scratch a living on the edge of society. Walking into the dark, violent world of a trans-national trafficking ring, can George outrun death to shed light on two terrible mysteries?

My verdict
The Girl Who Walked in the Shadows could possibly be read as a standalone. But I suggest you read the series in the correct order to understand the relationship between the main characters, Georgina (George) MacKenzie and Chief Inspector Paul van den Bergen. This book is set two years after the previous one (The Girl Who Broke the Rules). George is now a fully qualified criminologist, but she's just as opinionated as she was in the previous books. Yet again, she's working with Paul to solve some intriguing crimes, and their personal relationship is as complex as ever.

This is certainly the darkest of the three books in the series. It's a story of child abduction, paedophile rings and brutal murders. A serial killer nicknamed Jack Frost is taking advantage of the Arctic weather conditions to kill his victims. In a seemingly unconnected plot, taking place in the past, two children go missing in Amsterdam and their parents are looking for answers, using desperate measures to discover the truth.

As with the first two books, The Girl Who Walked in the Shadows is split mainly between London, Cambridge and Amsterdam. The three different settings work well yet again, with some very strong characters in each location. It took me a little while to get to grips with the different subplots in the book, especially the switch between past and present, but the jigsaw pieces gradually slotted into place.

'The Girl Who books' are gripping and highly enjoyable, with plenty of twists and turns. They are supposed to be a trilogy, but I hope it isn't the last we see of George.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.


Click here to read my review of Marnie's first book, The Girl Who Wouldn't Die.
Click here to read my review of her second book, The Girl Who Broke the Rules.
Click here to read about her pathway to publication.

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