MURDER UNDER THE PIER by Max Manning

3.5* Gah, with that teaser of an ending, I'm impatient for book 3 in this series.

This is another good sortie for this duo, although the Joffe editing team should've had a much-needed heavier hand with editing, as there's a tad too much page-time and emphasis on one character that within 3 pages or so had me sussing the killer's identity. I was expecting another 5* take from Max Manning, but sadly the lack of editing let the tale down a tad.

As for the character's machinations - I'm a bit on the fence with them. Are people really born that evil? Sociopaths without conscience and without it being discovered? I did sort of believe the arc but at the same time, with respect to the author, this has been done before, so it feels a little 'lifted', as there's no USP to the character, i.e. he didn't feel authentic/organic. 

Still, there was decent scene setting, a rapprochement of sorts with the female lead's family, that could make life as a working mum a bit easier for her. Unfortunately, this didn't elevate the tale to 4*, but I'm still very much interested in reading book 3, when it arrives.

ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Joffe Books for my reading pleasure. 

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