For someone, who in the past, has always said that they don’t like thrillers, police procedurals or anything vaguely in those styles, I’m not doing too badly at reading exactly those type of books lately. And I’m really enjoying them - this book in particular.

Considering that this is the eighth book in the series and I haven’t read the other seven (soon to be e was no confusion, and I didn’t feel as though I was missing out at all.

The lead character, Maeve Kerrigan, is a detective sergeant, and she has been put on the case of the retrial of Leo Stone. He had been found guilty of the gruesome murders of two women. However, a juror from the original trial has now made it known that THAT trial was prejudiced. Maeve and her partner, Josh Derwent, are in charge of re-examining the evidence. Another woman goes missing whilst Sone is in custody, though, throwing the whole investigation into doubt.

This is a seriously exciting book - there are cliff hangers all over the place (I had to stop reading from time to time to work, eat, sleep, parent, so the multiple cliffhangers may have been of my own making), and I loved how new evidence revealed. The main characters are immensely likeable, and those who are less so are so well described that you end up disliking them as well. The last chapters of the book also tense and exceedingly fast paced, that I felt as though I couldn’t breathe until the end! I was well and truly sucked in to the action.

I will be going back to the first seven books of this series to fill in my Kerrigan knowledge, and I’m looking forward to any future books in this series! This one comes highly recommended!

Review
Thank you to netgalley, HarperCollins UK for the arc of Jane Casey's Cruel Acts.
This was my first Jane Casey book, It took me a while to get into this book but I did enjoy it as the story built. I like the character Meave, she is strong and gutsy.

Oh my! Maeve Kerrigan gets herself into some scrapes but never seems to learn to let others know where she is going! This is another fantastic outing for Maeve and I loved reading this book, it had everything you could wish for and was unputdownabble.

Leo Stone has been convicted of murder but a lawyer is lodging an appeal as it comes out that the some of juror's looked up his past crimes and judged him on those so not what he was actually being tried for. That was grounds for miscarriage of justice.

As Leo Stone is released, a woman goes missing in similar circumstances to the crimes Leo was charged with. Is this Leo offending or a copycat out to muddy the waters?

This book is really well written, very descriptive and keeps you hooked so you don't want to put the book down. This series just keeps getting better!

Another absolute corker from Jane Casey. Maeve Kerrigan gets sidelined from a reopened case when she oversteps the mark but Maeve being Maeve keeps on digging....

I love this series - a believable detective with a relatably normal messed- up life. Fantastic.

Danger! To anyone fresh to the books of Jane Casey - it may cost you to read her others (7 apparently!). For me, new to her books this was an absolute joy,

The story is told by the lead character detective Maeve Kerrigan who is a young detective investigating a serial killer's possible guilt - he having been released from custody on a technicality but awaiting a retrial.

Maeve ends up looking at his case from a new perspective, and finds more than she bargained for. It is quite difficult to say more without spoiling the story, but suffice it to say that there are a few twists and a great ending.

However, the book rolls along at a good pace, with none of the usual stereotyping of young female officers and indeed her colleagues. This is a quality book with believable characters and scenarios.

This is number 8 in the DS Maeve Kerrigan series, but can very easily be read as a stand-alone….you may just miss out a little on her background.

DS Maeve Kerrigan and her boss DI Josh Derwent are re-investigating the Leo Stone case, he has been released after being granted an appeal. Stone is one creepy individual, but was he guilty?

Maeve is certain, a 3rd missing girl is somehow related to the case….

This has a gripping and detailed plot with many twists and surprises along the way and will keep you on tenterhooks throughout….

There are great characters, so well written by Jane Casey, you will feel the tension with them. The relationships between the characters have a reality about them and that between Kerrigan and Derwent is funny and moving at times too.

A brilliant, dramatic and tension filled ending to this menace filled thriller…I love it and can thoroughly recommend it to lovers of crime fiction.

I would like to thank the NetGalley, the publishers and the author for the opportunity to read this book for free and this is my honest and unbiased review.

The plot for this book really pulled me in particularly because of the miscarriage of justice element to the story. The idea that someone may have been convicted for a murder they didn’t commit and not knowing if they actually did or not… well it seemed to me that this would have all the makings of a great book.

Despite the fact that Leo Stone has been released from prison on a technicality the police seem determined to find any evidence they can to ensure he goes back behind bars and this time for good. It’s interesting because the families of the two women who were murdered have very differing opinions of whether Leo Stone actually did commit the crimes he is accused of. One family is convinced he did and one family is convinced the police are wasting their time and should be using their resources to try and catch the real killer. This all helped to add to the uncertainty as to whether or not Leo Stone is the right person to be convicted for these crimes.

The story is told from Maeve Kerrigan’s point of view, a police officer investigating the case. She seems a lot more impartial than some of the other police officers and although she thinks Leo Stone is guilty as they come she is still willing to follow the evidence, even if this leads her away from him as the prime suspect.

Maeve is partnered with DI Derwent and they live and work together but are not in a romantic relationship. Derwent seems to care for Maeve deeply and looks out for her whilst sometimes getting too involved in her personal affairs. I feel like there is a bit more going on between Maeve and Derwent, especially from Derwent’s side so it will be interesting to see how their relationship progresses as the series continues.

This is the eighth book in the Maeve Kerrigan series and I haven’t read the previous books but I will definitely be adding this backlist to my reading pile as the author has shown me in this book that she writes a crime thriller just like it should be: a plot with a big question mark over it, multiple suspects and theories, a lead character you can root for and a criminal baddy that we love to hate.

Ok so full disclosure here-I've read all of Jane Casey's books and I'm a big fan. So with that in mind I was a tiny bit apprehensive coming to Cruel Acts because I so wanted it to be good.
I was NOT disappointed!
It's a cracking story which is as always, really well paced with just the right amount of twists to keep you guessing till the end. But for me (and I suspect for a lot of other people) the real star of the show is the relationship between Maeve and Derwent. For me it's like watching an early episode of "Moonlighting" (remember that?) with that quick fire dialogue and that undercurrent of tension that Maeve seems determinedly oblivious to. You can't fight it forever Maeve!
In all seriousness, this is a cracking outing by Jane Casey again and I have no hesitation whatsoever in hugely recommending it.

This is the 8th full length novel in the Maeve Kerrigan series by the excellent author Jane Casey.
I have been looking forward to this book for sometime and it was well worth the wait.
Maeve Kerrigan is an ambitious young detective constable based in London. When convicted murderer Leo Stone is released DS Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent are determined to put Stone back behind bars. Leo Stone states he is a victim of a miscarriage of justice, but Kerrigan is convinced he was rightfully convicted of the murder of two women and sentenced to life in prison. Now Stone is free, pleading his innocence and the more Maeve Kerrigan finds out, the less convinced she is of his guilt. Then another woman disappears in similar circumstances. Is there a copycat killer, or have they been wrong about Stone from the start?
This series is well worth reading, excellent plots, interesting believable characters and so well paced. The biggest problem you will have with this series is once you start reading it you will struggle to put the books down.
I would like to thank Net Galley and Harper Collins for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I cant believe I have never read a book by Jane Casey I was intrigued to find out what happened in this book after reading the books description.
I was pulled in to the book from page 1. And really did find it hard to put the book down!! Loved the detective characters Maeve Kerrigan and Josh Derwent, I felt they worked well together reinvestigating a case of two murdered women allegedly committed by Leo Stone currently in prison for life, but now it looks like the jury were prejudiced hence the new investigation.
My description is very brief as I don't want to give too much away to other readers. But wow this book is fantastic and had me on the edge of my seat trying to solve the case myself!! Scarey in parts and the suspect is one of your worse nightmares. The final outcome is brilliant and the twists and turns throughout really make it difficult to work out who is guilty which I loved.
A must read book and I look forward to reading more from this author. Amazing.

This is a brilliant series with brilliant characters. Kerrigan and Derwent are 2 characters that I really enjoy reading about. There are interesting believable characters who solve believable cases. I read this story in one sitting. I was gripped from the start. It was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. I hope there are more books to come.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

'Cruel Acts' is an excellent police procedural novel, absorbing, chilling and suspenseful, it is meticulously plotted. The characters are complex and realistic, they draw you into their lives and make you want to know what happens next.

The story focuses on a serial killer who is released pending retrial due to a jury irregularity. The police have to make their case again, but this is not as straightforward as it appears. Maeve Kerrigan and Josh Derwent find poorly investigated leads, new victims and then a new missing person, the plot is twisty and keeps you guessing, but like all good crime novels, the clues to solve the mysteries are there, but can you find them?

This isn't a graphic serial killer novel, although this is the catalyst for the story, there is much more to it. It reads well as a standalone, this is the first Maeve Kerrigan novel I've read. but it is so well written I would like to read the rest of the series too.

There are many interesting character dynamics between members of the police team. Kerrigan and Newton's friendship is the most notable, but all of them add depth to this complex story and increase its authenticity.

The beginning and end are particularly menacing, but this is a page-turning read, that's hard to put down.

I received a copy of this book from Harper Collins UK - Harper Fiction via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Although this isn't the first in the series featuring DS Maeve Kerrigan (I think it's the 8th), it's the first I've read. It does work well as a standalone apart from the relationship between Maeve and DI Josh Derwent - there seemed to be a lot going on there that I didn't fully understand.

Despite this, I thought this was a well plotted and engaging police procedural. Maeve is a likeable character and the story was well plotted and pacy. There were some good twists and I didn't manage to guess the outcome even though I'm a seasoned mystery reader!

This book focuses on a retrial of a man who was put into prison for the murder of women who were kidnapped, killed and dumped on a nature reserve. A technicality means that he's released and it's down to Maeve and her team to secure the conviction when the trial goes back to court. Meanwhile, the supposed killer is loose and another woman goes missing.

I'd recommend this to fans of quality police procedural novels. It's certainly added another author to my list of those to look out for - I'm going to be checking out the back catalogue!

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers, and also Pigeonhole for the ARC, which I really enjoyed reading.
Jane Casey in Cruel Acts is once again writing about D I Maeve Kerrigan and the storyline is excellent and it is an interesting and engrossing read.
Highly recommended.

My thanks to HarperCollins U.K. for an eARC via NetGalley of Jane Casey’s ‘Cruel Acts’ in exchange for an honest review.

Leo Stone, a convicted murderer of two women, is serving life without parole. When one of the jurors at his trial writes a book it is revealed that the jury had been prejudiced. Stone is released pending a retrial. The police have a short period of time to review the evidence associated with the case before the new trial.

DS Maeve Kerrigan is part of a small team undertaking this task. Despite resistance from her superiors Maeve is also looking into the disappearance of a third woman that may be linked. However, the situation is complicated by Stone claiming he is innocent. Kerrigan begins to wonder if he might be telling the truth.

This is the eighth book in Casey’s series of police procedurals featuring DS Maeve Kerrigan. I had read the first in the series a couple of years ago and enjoyed it very much. Even though I wasn’t up to date with the series this was no barrier to my enjoying this latest outing as Casey provided enough background without spoilers for previous cases.

Not having read the complete series meant that there were some aspects of the relationship between Maeve and her colleague/superior DI Josh Derwent that passed me by as well as details of a romantic break-up that was clearly having an effect on Maeve.

Overall a solid police procedural with some very interesting twists. I am glad that I have more of her titles in the series waiting for me thanks to a Kindle sale last year.

Fantastic book, fast paced and well written. I definitely want more of this series.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

Wow. What a fantastic novel. I haven’t read any of jane’s books before but I’ll definitely be searching them out now. Great characterisation throughout and full of twists.

A thriller, a chiller and a serial killer... 5 stars

Leo Stone was convicted of killing two women and sentenced to life imprisonment. But now one of the jurors has revealed that the jury broke the rules and as a result his conviction is certain to be overturned when it comes before the Appeals Court. There will be a retrial, but Superintendent Godley wants to make certain that he’s convicted again, so Detective Sergeant Maeve Kerrigan and Detective Inspector Josh Derwent are assigned to reinvestigate the case and to find more evidence if they can. Maeve quickly discovers in the files that there was a third woman who may have been a victim of Stone’s too, but he was never charged with her murder for lack of evidence. Maeve’s sense of empathy for this victim makes her determined to find out the truth of what happened to her too. In the midst of the investigation, after Stone has been released, another woman goes missing...

Well, it’s been a long wait for this latest instalment in Jane Casey’s excellent Maeve Kerrigan series, but this is well worth waiting for. As always, it’s told in the first person (past tense) by Maeve, so that we get her often humorous take on the people around her, especially Derwent. Their relationship has settled into a rather more equal friendship now that Maeve is more experienced, but that doesn’t stop Derwent from lecturing her about her personal life, being over-protective, embarrassing her at every opportunity and generally winding her up. For all that, she knows there’s no-one she’d rather have beside her when things get dangerous.

The other regulars are back too. Una Burt, Maeve’s boss, still doesn’t much like her and the feeling is mutual. Liv appears a bit more in this one – another colleague and Maeve’s best friend. Godley is back, though he plays only a small role. Maeve still looks up to him, but in a more mature way than the hero-worship she felt for him in the early days. And the new girl on the team, Georgia, is back too, just as obnoxious, and just as jealous of Maeve’s success. Followers of the series are doubtless thinking, yes, but what about Maeve’s love life? Is Rob back? Or is there a new man on the scene? Or are Maeve and Josh...? You don’t really expect me to tell you though, do you? ;)

In general, I’m not wild about serial killer stories and helpless females being tortured and killed, but I was right to trust Casey to handle it with her usual sensitivity and good taste. Although women are killed, the reader is not put in the room with them as it’s happening – there’s nothing prurient or gratuitous in the writing; no lengthy descriptions of torture scenes designed to titillate. That doesn’t stop it from being heart-in-mouth thrilling and chilling at points, though. The prologue is wonderfully scary and the thriller ending is tense and dramatic, with several scenes dotted throughout that also had my anxiety levels rocketing.

When it turns out that Leo Stone has an alibi for the time of the latest disappearance, Maeve and Derwent have to consider whether he was innocent of the earlier murders or if there’s a copycat out there. I thoroughly enjoyed the plotting in this one. I didn’t work it out – I rarely do – but all the clues are there. I always think that Casey plots like a Golden Age author, giving the reader a fair chance to do a bit of armchair detecting, although in every other respect her stories and characters are entirely modern.

I also love that Maeve tries hard to stay within the rules. While her personal life might be a bit complicated, she’s no angst-ridden maverick. The same goes for her colleagues, in fact – they’re probably the most realistic police team I can think of, and while there are petty jealousies and squabbles, they behave overall like the kind of professional force I’d like to think we actually have. The women are not always struggling to be taken seriously by sexist bosses, which delights me since I think it’s such an out-dated image in most of our public services now, and completely overused in crime fiction. Casey simply has men and women working together as a team as if... gasp... it’s normal! But she still allows room for a bit of banter and the occasional flirtation, and she doesn’t feel the need to make the women superheroes or the men weaklings.

While this could easily be read as a standalone, I do recommend reading this series in order to get the full nuances of all the various relationships within the team, and especially to understand Maeve and Josh’s complicated friendship. For existing fans, you’re in for a treat with this one – isn’t it great to have Maeve back? Highly recommended, and I sincerely hope Ms Casey is hard at work on the next one...

NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, HarperCollins.

Cruel Acts was a thoroughly enjoyable read. It was intense and thorough, and I could not stop reading.

I loved how the story was set out. The plot drew me in completely. It was interesting to see how the story carried out, and I loved all the plot twists that came throughout.

The ending was very surprising. It was not what I was expecting and I absolutely devoured it.

I also loved the main characters. Maeve and Josh were incredible, and I loved their chemistry as a team. I loved the dynamic of their relationship. There was something hidden, and the spark was there.

Cruel Acts was an incredible read and kept me on the edge of my seat. I simply could not get enough of it.

DS Maeve Kerrigan (bit of a Maveric character quick to pick up on clues and apt to follow them without back up) and her boss DI Josh Derwent (brusque, off hand, opinionated but ready with a kind word when needed) run the investigation with an undercurrent of love/hate that we never know if it will blossom or explode. Great characters.
Leo Stone ( career criminal and all round nasty piece of work) having a conviction for murder of 2 young women overturned on a technicality.
The team are reviewing the case ahead of a retrial.
But is he guilty?
Did he work alone?
Are there more bodies to find?