This is an intelligent, layered psychological suspense where the main protagonist is a barrister. Her interpretation of events is concise, considered and critical. Ingrid has elements of unreliability that are notable for the protagonists in this genre, but with a few exceptions, she is trustworthy. John is a sociopath. Complex, he keeps his true intentions secret until the climactic conclusion.

The legalistic setting has intrinsic interest. The plot is twisty and the characters shadowy, creating an ethos of menace and mystery. The lines of right and wrong are blurred, and the differences between justice and the law explored through the events that unfold.

This is a compelling story with convincing characters and a set of events that are frighteningly real.

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

My true rating for this book is 3.5 stars.

This book is about barrister Ingrid Lewis. Ingrid defended a man called John Webster on a stalking charge and her walked free. John Webster then developed an obsession with Ingrid and made her life hell. Eventually enough evidence is gathered to lock John Webster up but when one of her colleagues is killed Ingrid is convinced John is back again.

Stalker books are my favourite thing to read about in a thriller. This had all the elements. I particularly enjoyed the multimedia aspect of this book. We get to read court transcripts, notes, police interviews, court orders and emails. I was fully immersed in the story until 75% through the book. It was then I guessed what was actually happening and who was behind it and from then on I was just waiting for the reveal. It also contained one of my pet hates in any mystery which is when towards the end the villain goes into a lot of detail as in the who, what, why’s and wherefores. All that said I generally loved the story and the authors writing style and will definitely be checking out her back catalogue.

The title is well chosen as there is plenty killing in this book. The main character is Ingrid Lewis, a London barrister, who is pursued and threaten after one of her court cases. Then it appears it is actually not the case she thought which shifts the focus. John Webster Is the stalker but is he really what he seems and is the only person behind all the disasters. The story certainly will keep you reading as new information comes to light and any assumptions about the perpetrators of the murders, fires and fatal accidents do not stand the test of time! There are times when Ingrid’s suitability as a barrister is questionable but she seems to carry on with her professional life despite all that is going on around her. A strong point of the book is the description of her character and her ability to steer her own oath and eventually become the person who solves the problem. The book is not really believable in all that happens but it is very well written and the story has impressive pace to keep the reader on board. I recommend it.

A good lawyer is essential if your case is complicated. The jury has to fall on your side.
Ingrid is an excellent barrister. She takes no pleasure in reducing the plaintiff to a gibbering wreck. It is all part of her job.
John Webster is a lucky man. He walks out of court totally exonerated.
Then the 'fun' begins.
John turns up everywhere in Ingrid's life. He sees it as his duty to watch over her, to protect her. Ingrid is being stalked by the man she represented on the same charge. Has she made the biggest mistake of her life?
Jane Casey takes us on a convoluted, twisted, scary journey. If Ingrid can't figure out what is happening what chance do we have?
A fantastic read which had me holding my breath too often and thoroughly entertained. Well worth the five stars.

I enjoy Jane Casey's Maeve Kerrigan series and was keen to read her standalone. There was a lot going on and it should have been more interesting but in the end the twists were guessable and Ingrid's actions sometimes made no sense other than as devices to get the story moving forward. Sadly not a favourite.

This was my first book by Jane Casey but it will not be my last. I was impressed by how she weaved a story revolving around a very creepy sociopath and a hard-working barrister. John Webster is such a dangerous man, who fully deserves to be locked up for the rest of his life, but when Ingrid Lewis gets him off after his trial, he’s not even grateful but starts to harass her in many ways. That’s what sociopaths do and there is nothing you can do about it. After burning down her house and destroying her relationship you would think this would be enough for him, but it isn’t. When Ingrid is confronted with the death of her colleague Belinda, she is spooked all over again, because she thought she was safe from him now. Soon she starts to notice that this time, he’s even more determined to make her life as miserable as he can, and she fears he will not stop now before she’s dead.
We follow Ingrid in her search for the truth, and meet some people who may or not may be on her side. Can she trust Adam, the serious police officer? Why is her new neighbour Helen so overly friendly? Ingrid tries to do her job in between trying to get help and convince people she is really in danger.
The story is very good although the surprises at the end were sometimes a bit too much. The characterization is smoothly done; Jane Casey doesn’t need a lot of words to paint a portrait, whether a ‘good’ or a ‘bad’ person.

A page turner that kept me on the edge and guessing till the end. Fast paced, well written, full of twists and turns.
I liked the storytelling, the character development and the atmosphere.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This is a standalone novel by Jane Casey and I’m so glad I picked it up. This book follows Ingrid, a barrister, who feels that she’s been stalked and she suspects the man behind it might be a man who’s case she defended a couple of years earlier. The novel moves back and forth in time so we find out more about this man, and also where Ingrid is now and what happened when he came looking for her before. It’s a real cat and mouse novel where you’re not sure who you can trust, there are even moments when you doubt Ingrid is telling the whole truth and I loved being kept on my toes. I found John Webster, the man Ingrid believes is stalking her fascinating. He is creepy and yet at the same time very earnest so it’s hard to weigh up what the story is with him. I did began to have my suspicions about what might be happening and I was right but even then there were twists in store. This was such a good read, I definitely recommend it. Now I really need to make time to start on Jane Casey’s series as I have quite a few of those books on my TBR and still haven’t ever picked the first one up!

My thanks to HarperCollins U.K. for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Killing Kind’ by Jane Casey in exchange for an honest review.

This standalone legal/psychological thriller has a complex, twisty plot. Its lead and narrator is barrister, Ingrid Lewis. While she is used to tricky clients, John Webster is in a category of his own.
After Ingrid defended Webster against a stalking charge, he became obsessed with her - following her, harassing her, interfering with her relationship, and possibly even destroying her home.

After she manages to obtain a restraining order against him, Webster is then imprisoned on a fraud charge unconnected to her and Ingrid finally believes that she is free of him. Yet one rainy day Ingrid lends her red umbrella to one of her colleagues.

When the woman is run down on a busy London road Ingrid becomes convinced that she was the intended victim and that Webster, recently released on probation, was responsible. Ingrid is further shaken when Webster turns up at her door claiming that she is in danger and that only he can protect her.... should she believe him?

This was quite a ride! Sometimes I was frustrated with Ingrid though admired her determination to uncover who is responsible for these mysterious events and see them brought to justice. While most of the novel is told from Ingrid’s point of view, readers are shown a message board where a few people, hidden behind usernames, clearly have a grudge against Ingrid. Who are they and why are they doing this? It’s very twisty!

While different to her highly acclaimed Maeve Kerrigan police procedurals, Jane Casey brings the same level of detail to explaining the complex U.K. legal system to her readers.

Overall, I found this a gripping, page-turning novel that was very satisfying.

Set in London, ,barrister, Ingrid Lewis, come across a very dangerous, stalking, sociopath John Webster, who is absolutely horrible and left a vivid impression on me from early on.

The book is fairly relentless in it's pursuit of the awfulness of some people - not for the faint heated, I believe.

Thanks to Net Galley and Harper Collins for the chance to read and review.

This is what you would call an extremely gripping thriller- there were so many twists and turns that I did not know whom to suspect and there was no way I was going to be able to guess what would happen at the end until I actually got there..
Ingrid is a criminal barrister working in London. When a colleague of hers is killed in a road accident she suspects foul play and fears that she was the true target as the victim had borrowed her umbrella. A former client of hers has been released from prison and he has a history of stalking her and her family so she immediately thinks it could be him.
I won’t reveal too much more of the plot as it will spoil all the surprises that are in store for any lucky readers who decide to buy this book.
“The Killing Kind” has some great characters- even the villains are interesting! I couldn’t get my head around creepy John Webster, the stalker. What did he really want from Ingrid and why was he so obsessed with her? Is he capable of committing the murders which take place in the course of the novel?
Ingrid is an intelligent heroine who has to use all her intellect to work out what is really happening to her and solve the crimes. I definitely liked her and wondered whether she and her nemesis, John, might appear in future books by this author.
This was a compelling read which hooked me in from page one and didn’t let me go until I reached the final page. There is a lot going on so you need to keep your wits about you and look for clues!
Definitely a five star read which I highly recommend to those of you who like twisty, psychological crime thrillers!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my arc in exchange for an honest review.

Oh I absolutely didn't know who to trust in this book.

I suspected everyone of an ulterior motive.

Barrister Ingrid, thinks her previous client, Webster is stalking her again as she feels like she's in the midst of his reign of terror when a colleague dies, Ingrid thinks she was the intended target.

Webster says he's trying to save her and there are other, darker sources who are behind the dark troubles facing Ingrid.

Police Officer Adam says Webster is not to be trusted.

Then there is an ex of Ingrid's who is back on the scene...

This is a headwrecker of a book, like I said, I suspected everyone and the only way my suspicions were put to one side was if that character was taken out of the equation!

Will have you on pins.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book, this is my honest opinion.

This was a great read.
A word of advice when reading this one: Do Not Trust Anyone!
I really enjoyed the first 2 thirds of the book, but then it descended into more of the 'unbelievable' and I felt it lost some credibilty towards the end.
Webster was an AMAZING character, I LOVED his humour, his intelligence and Casey did a fantastic job of making me like him when I shouldn't have. I genuinely hope Casey does more books with him in it!
The pacing was fast and threw many curveballs which is a must in a thriller for me!
Definitely recommend.

Young barrister Ingrid Lewis is being stalked by a nasty character she defended successfully some years ago. This is horrifying for her, and for the reader of this thriller - it takes you by the scruff of the neck, shakes you around and doesn’t let go until the very end. There is a wide cast of characters and the writer cleverly shifts their place in the narrative from god to bad and back again, leaving the reading wondering if anyone is really trustworthy. All very clever stuff, but it did take a while to get into its stride and not all the action was entirely plausible. Nonetheless, if you have to go and do something else whilst reading this book it will stay with you until you can get back to finish it. That’s a sign of a very good book indeed for this reviewer!

The Killing Kind is an absolutely scintillating stand-alone psychological crime thriller from one of the best crime writers in the game, but I must admit I wasn't expecting it to be as riveting as it was. Gifted London-based junior barrister Ingrid Lewis is used to defending those accused of heinous crimes in court but three years before the thriller kicks off she had taken the case of dangerous stalker and controlling and manipulative sociopath John Webster and successfully defended him. In court, she had cross-examined the apparent victim to within an inch of her life on the stand saving him a lengthy prison term, and it had quickly become clear that her claims had not only been fabricated regarding Webster's behaviour but that she had been the one exhibiting stalkerish tendencies and not him. Ingrid now remembers a police officer who had been called to the stand by the prosecution and who was familiar with Webster's previous crimes; he had stated that the accused was an extremely dangerous individual and that this was the best opportunity they would have to lock him up; at the time it meant little to her but now that Webster's attention had turned to her he had seemingly developed a sick fascination and toxic obsession with her for which she had managed to attain a temporary restraining order, however, it had now expired. His targeted harassment campaign included following her, bombarding her with unwanted texts and emails, uploading fake or fabricated videos to YouTube in an attempt to destroy her reputation (as a barrister reputation is everything) and has even sent private material to her boss.

But his determination to tear her life apart doesn't stop there. It gets far worse when Webster engineers a break-up in her stable relationship with fiancé, Mark Orpen and then burned her house to the ground. The stress is beginning to take its toll as she has to be on guard everywhere she goes. In 2019, Ingrid had been working a trial alongside another female barrister, Belinda Grey. It had been raining considerably and Grey had no umbrella; this led to Ingrid lending her very distinctive brolly to her. A couple of minutes later, Belinda was killed by a lorry when crossing Ludgate Hill and Ingrid can't escape the feeling that it was meant to be her and that it was not merely a traffic accident but a case of mistaken identity precipitated by her brolly. She had been the real target and she was in no doubt the incident was orchestrated by Webster. This is a scintillating and adrenaline-pumping thriller and dare I say, I found it just as riveting as Casey's Kerrigan series. It's multilayered, shifts seamlessly between past (2015) and present (2019) and Casey's portrayal of a terrified, terrorised and paranoid protagonist is incredibly intense and believable; her mental health is rapidly deteriorating and she doesn't feel safe regardless of where she is. The gritty realism and tense, dramatic scenes make this a cracking and compulsive read; add to that some amazing twists, palpable suspense and realistic characters and the pages turn themselves. An exquisitely plotted, intelligent and disturbing read with an explosive denouement and pages full of thrills, twists, surprises and reveals. Highly recommended.

Jane Casey is the queen of smashing it out of the ballpark. Her latest standalone thriller had me racing to turn the pages to try and work out just who was targeting Ingrid. The twists come thick and fast in the multi-layered book, as Ingrid's paranoia and a large group of potential suspects ramp up the tension. Throw in an unpredictable sociopath into the mix who may or may not be helping Ingrid, and I was utterly stumped.
It's frenetic, crazy, gruesome and utterly, utterly brilliant!

My thanks go to the publishers and NetGalley for the advance copy in return for an honest review.

Fun, easy to ready, fairly lightweight thriller. I did enjoy it but purists need to k me The characters were a bit 2D, their behaviour fairly implausible and the ending didn’t add up.

Edge of the seat reading. Breathtaking. Read so much in one go as I could not put it down. Brilliant

What an absolutely thrilling and compelling read this is. Ingrid is a talented barrister who successfully defends John Webster, a dangerous criminal. The story is told from the past to the present, is cleverly plotted and has multi layers. A first class psychological thriller from Jane Casey and I highly recommend the read as it's fast and furious. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

I would like to thank Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for an advance copy of The Killing Kind, a stand-alone thriller set in London.

Ingrid Lewis, a barrister, successfully defended John Webster in a stalking case. Unfortunately her skill attracted his attention and she became his latest victim until a restraining order kept him away. Now the restraining order has expired and her friend Belinda, using Ingrid’s umbrella, has died under the wheels of a lorry. Was she the intended victim? Ingrid doesn’t know but she isn’t inclined to trust John Webster when he turns up to warn her she is in danger and offer help.

I enjoyed The Killing Kind which is an engrossing read, full of twists and turns. I must admit that I was in two minds about whether to read it or not as I’m not a big fan of psychological thrillers, which I assumed this was. In actual fact it’s a more straightforward thriller and I’m really glad I read it.

From the opening sentences I was hooked. I fell in love with the prose which is clear, concise and I want to say lively, but I probably mean inviting the reader in and encouraging further reading. I like it that there is no ambiguity about the events which are described clearly and concisely. The same cannot be said about their interpretation or the motive behind them or, most importantly, the motivations of the characters she encounters. In true thriller fashion the reader feels they are negotiating a quicksand with the ground shifting beneath their feet at every turn.

The novel is told mostly from Ingrid’s first person point of view with messages from unknown people and some trial transcripts thrown in to give some context to certain events. I loved that neither Ingrid nor the reader has any clue about what is happening and why. She is pretty sure John Webster is behind it all, this reader wasn’t so sure, but in case he was I had to keep reading to get to the motive and the links. It is absorbing.

Ingrid is well drawn in her terror, especially the way it ramps up as events escalate. I could relate to it better if it were real life, but I didn’t find it so appealing in fiction. She still, however, has her moments when her brain and her tongue become weapons, so all is not lost.

The Killing Kind is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.