Customer Reviews

Cold Kill: A Detective Stella Mooney Novel (Detective Stella Mooney Novels)

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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

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.

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.

David Lawrence's "Cold Kill" is a brutal police procedural starring DS Stella Mooney who, assisted by her team of detectives, is looking for the psycho who garroted a series of young women after assaulting them with a hammer. As the investigation proceeds, the clues indicate that more than one perpetrator may be involved.

Complicating Stella's life are her ambivalent feelings towards her lover, John Delaney, who may be exploiting her inside knowledge of the criminal mind to further his writing career. Stella tends to brood and she occasionally drinks too much; her job consumes most of her waking hours and it even invades her dreams. Relaxation is not an option for this driven woman. Before the mystery is solved, Stella and her crew will run down dozens of leads, conduct countless interviews, and comb through a mountain of forensic evidence.

Lawrence is terrific at creating an atmosphere of menace. Although the novel takes place during the Christmas season, there is little good cheer (but a great deal of black humor) to lighten up the proceedings. The author chillingly recounts the demented thoughts of a stalker who surreptitiously clips locks of hair from his potential victims. In addition, there are many other individuals up to no good, including drug dealers, junkies, gunrunners, snitches, teenaged hoodlums, prostitutes, hit men, fences, and more. In fact, the cast of characters is so large that the author should have included an alphabetical list of good and bad guys to assist his readers.

"Cold Kill" is a bit too long and convoluted, and the busy plot culminates in a somewhat far-fetched conclusion. Still, most readers will admire Stella Mooney, whose tenacity, courage, keen intelligence, and passion for justice make her one of the most formidable detectives in London.