Cold Kill: A Detective Stella Mooney Novel (Detective Stella Mooney Novels) [Hardcover]

David Lawrence (Author)

Book Description

Series: Detective Stella Mooney Novels | Publication Date: May 30, 2006

"Fans of the PBS series Prime Suspect or of hot Scottish writer Ian Rankin shouldn't wait to check out this mystery...[it] will surely be one of the best mysteries of the summer, probably of the year."

- Rocky Mountain News on The Dead Sit Round in a Ring

 

Cold Kill, David Lawrence's third book in the highly acclaimed Detective Stella Mooney series, finds the memorable Stella at a crime scene in a wintry London park.

 

The brutalized corpse of a young woman has just been discovered. When Robert Kimber walks into a Notting Hill police station and confesses to the murder, it's an open-and-shut case--just what the police want this close to Christmas. But Stella has her doubts. And if their suspect didn't commit the murder, who did? Someone without a conscience. Someone who will tap into Kimber's disturbed mind. Someone who needs an apprentice for the dark business he has planned....

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

British author Lawrence's third police procedural to feature Det. Stella Mooney (after 2005's Nothing Like the Night) offers some new wrinkles on the serial killer theme. Mooney, an attractive and fearless officer who wrestles with the psychological aftermath of having taken a life in self-defense, is rapidly immersed in the search for a brutal murderer victimizing young London women. The probe apparently catches an early break when Robert Kimber walks into a police station and confesses to the latest crime, but his vagueness about details and the absence of forensic evidence force Mooney to authorize his release. More deaths follow, leading to some major second-guessing of that decision. Lawrence's crisp writing and memorable characters make this an absorbing read, even if the coincidences toward the end are piled on a little high. The author displays enough talent to attract nonprocedural fans, and his deft touch at occasional gallows humor helps this novel to stand out from the pack. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

It's Christmastime in London, and the midwinter doesn't get much bleaker than in the stark pages of DS Stella Mooney's third case, as random women are being hammered in the head, partially stripped, and garroted. The squad gets the perfect gift when a creepy confessor who knows too much drops in their lap, but Robert Kimber turns out to be a serial killer-wannabe who stalks and photographs his unsuspecting victims but seems to go no further than stealing locks of hair. Conflicting DNA evidence suggests two or more perps at work, but is there honor among serial killers? Unable to escape her brutal childhood neighborhood, the bruised and battered Mooney must endure more salt on her wounds when her journalist lover runs afoul of the investigation. There are some unnecessarily tidy coincidences in the swift, convoluted plot, but Lawrence excels in creating a relentlessly grim pressure-cooker of a city with some of the meanest streets in the business. An elegiac entry for noir fans who favor Ken Bruen, Mo Hayder, or James Ellroy. David Wright
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (May 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312347413
• ISBN-13: 978-0312347413
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.9 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #488,259 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars refreshing police procedural, June 7, 2006

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cold Kill: A Detective Stella Mooney Novel (Detective Stella Mooney Novels) (Hardcover)

London Detective Stella Mooney emotionally struggles with having to kill someone in the line of duty though as the brass determined she had no choice and (see NOTHING LIKE THE NIGHT) acted in self defense. However, Stella has no time for self pity and stops seeing therapist Dr. Anne Beaumont when she is assigned the case of a brutal serial killer targeting young females such as Valerie Blake who was raped and ritually sliced.

The case appears solved when Robert Kimber confesses to the latest homicide. However, when questioned by Valerie he seems vague about specific details and there is a lack of any forensic evidence linking him to any crime. This forces a reluctant Mooney to release him though she is certain the unhinged Kimber is not the killer. More ferocious murders with a modified signature follow leading to Mooney and others to wonder if she freed a guilty person who modified the M.O.

COLD KILL is a refreshing police procedural with fully developed characters, lot of action and the plot takes some shocking twists that will totally surprise the reader who will have a hard time waiting to see what happens next. The serial killer story line is fast-paced as Stella struggles with a difficult case after still not being fully recovered from having to take a life. Fans who appreciate a complex murder mystery will want to read David Lawrence's tense thriller.

Harriet Klausner

3.0 out of 5 stars Stella Mooney gets her men, January 23, 2008

By 

Brian A. Barkis "Fauvist Painter" (Olympia, Washington United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cold Kill: A Detective Stella Mooney Novel (Detective Stella Mooney Novels) (Hardcover)

David Lawrence in his book Cold Kill takes the reader to the seamier,mean and cold streets of London during the Christmas holidays. I'll leave to other reviewers to give you a synopsis of the story.
This is the first book I've read of Lawrence, and compliment him on the character D.S. Stella Mooney, who has many strengths and a few flaws, (like the rest of us) and his development of her in the story. This keeps the reader turning pages to see how she deals with the very disturbing characters: Kimber and Leon Bloss. I would recommend this book to readers who like a gritty police thriller in the same vein as Ken Bruen or Ian Rankins books. I plan to read his newest title in this series in the near future.

5.0 out of 5 stars Be Aware of Your Surroundings, December 24, 2007

By 

Gregg Eldred (Avon Lake, OH USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cold Kill: A Detective Stella Mooney Novel (Detective Stella Mooney Novels) (Hardcover)

Feeling the in the mood for a little Christmas story? Maybe not a traditional one? Perhaps one that includes murder? Look no further.

David Lawrence's Cold Kill is the third installment of his fine Stella Mooney novels. It is Christmas time in London, and women are getting a hammer to the head, stripped, and garroted. A man walks into the police station to confess, and it appears that Stella has a nice, neat end to the murders. But there isn't enough to keep and charge him, and he walks free. But the murders don't stop, which means that Stella and her team are working overtime, during the holiday season, to bring an end to the killings. And when it appears that this isn't the work of just one person, things really get interesting.

I find that I really like the way Lawrence writes; the characters, the settings, the dialog. He isn't afraid to show you parts of London that aren't on the tourist maps. His characters, among them Stella Mooney, are complex individuals, well thought out and defined. And the dialog is believable, for the characters, for the setting. This books moves along at a very nice clip, picking up steam at every page. Just when you think that you know where it is going, Lawrence throws a little twist to keep you guessing. He introduces a couple of minor characters, early on, keeps us in contact with them throughout the novel, and then used them in very particular scenes. Scenes that are core to the book. I never saw that coming as Lawrence kept me focused on some other aspect of the novel.

As I noted, it seemed that this was a fairly straight forward case, until things get . . . complicated. Whether it is personal issues, with several of the characters, pressure from the police force to wrap the case, or from several interesting characters, this book really holds your attention. This is another excellent Stella Mooney novel. She is fast becoming one of my favorite female characters in fiction.

Highly recommended.