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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not for the faint-hearted., June 14, 2005
This review is from: Nothing Like the Night (Detective Stella Mooney Mysteries) (Hardcover)
At first glance, David Lawrence's "Nothing Like the Night" resembles many other thrillers in which female victims are horribly mutilated and murdered by a psychopathic predator. The central character is DS Stella Mooney, a tough female detective based in London. During the day, Stella performs her job with fearless aggression. However, she is plagued by frequent and unsettling nightmares, and she has been drinking too much in an effort to turn off her disturbing thoughts. Even though she has had a live-in lover for six years, Stella is strongly attracted to a principled and compassionate journalist named John Delaney. Helping Stella to sort out her conflicting emotions is Anne Beaumont, Stella's insightful therapist, who also serves as a criminal profiler for the police.
Mooney is called to the scene when a former fashion model named Janis Parker is found dead, her throat slashed and her body covered with cuts. Stella and her team follow up all available leads, but they come up empty. When more victims turn up, it becomes apparent that a serial killer is loose in London. The police are anxious to find out how the killer chooses his victims, and since there are no signs of forced entry, why the victims let him into their flats. As time goes by with little progress being made, Mooney and her team become increasingly frustrated by their inability to solve the crimes.
"Nothing Like the Night" stands out because of David Lawrence's hard-hitting, gritty, and uncompromising writing style. The dialogue is sharp and realistic, and the author takes the time to capture the nuances of each character's personality. In the course of the novel, Lawrence thoroughly explores the underbelly of London society. Figuring in the plot are drug dealers and addicts, women who sell their bodies on the street or in strip clubs, a street urchin who lives in a cemetery, and dangerous thugs who kill at the drop of a hat. The description of police work is first-rate and the suspense builds to a nerve-racking and surprising conclusion. "Nothing Like the Night" is a frightening and grisly novel, with graphic descriptions of sadism and violence, but it is also riveting, compelling, and unforgettable.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stella Has Issues, November 28, 2007
While at the library the other day, looking at the new books, I saw a new book by David Lawrence. The book, Cold Kill, caught my eye, especially since it said "A Stella Mooney Novel." I put that one down and went in search of Lawrence's earlier novels. The second book, Nothing Like the Night, was the one that I took from the library (the first one wasn't available).
A young, successful, beautiful woman is found dead in her apartment (or, since the action occurs in London, I should say 'flat.'), stabbed over 50 times. There isn't much forensic evidence, so the police believe it to be over drugs, a former lover, or a robbery gone bad. It isn't until a second woman is found, murdered in the same manner that the police, and Stella Mooney, think that something else is happening.
Let me say, first off, that I am not familiar with a lot of British customs/phrases, so some of the reading was difficult to comprehend. Specifically, the references to "DS Mooney," "AMIP" (Area Major Investigation Pool), "DC Harriman," and the like. I suppose that I needed some reference to compare these to the US police departments. But, those are very small complaints.
This is a wonderful book. The main character, Stella Mooney, has issues. She is prone to nightmares, she is in two relationships, she's seeing a psychologist. She isn't "superwoman," but she is a great detective. As the pressure mounts to find the killer(s), Stella has pressure mounting in her personal life. Also, the reader is introduced to the seedier side of London. It would be fair to say that the writing is gritty and realistic.
A highly recommended book. I am looking forward to reading the other books in this series.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant follow-up to Circle of the Dead (aka The Dead Sit Round in a Ring), August 3, 2006
The second in the relatively new Stella Mooney series continues dark and gloomy, giving us wide swathes of the dank, gritty underground of London where the gangs, prostitutes and drug-pushers hold sway. Now, someone is torturing and killing beautiful women. Although the scenes are full of evidence, it is of no use because there is no one to whom it can be linked. As the death tolls mount, and Stella's personal life grows ever more dark, this thriller races to a pulse-pounding beat.
This book is definitely right up my alley - the descriptions are vivid and almost poetic without being overboard, bringing the reader into the scene. Definitely worth the read - I look forward to the next in the series.
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