Books Read: In For the Kill by Ed James

A university student is found strangled to death in her bedroom, but when the embattled DI Simon Fenchurch is called in to investigate, the case strikes dangerously close to home.

On the surface, the victim was a popular, high-performing student. But as secret grudges against her emerge, so too does evidence that she was living a double life, working on explicit webcam sites for a seedy London ganglord. Everyone Fenchurch talks to knows a lot more than they’re willing to tell, and before long he’s making new enemies of his own—threatening to push him and his family past breaking point.

With too many suspects and not enough facts, Fenchurch knows his new superiors are just waiting for him to fail—they want him off the case, and off the force for good. His family is in more danger than ever before. So how deep is he willing to dig in order to unearth the truth?

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I'd like to thank Anne Cater from Random Things Through my Letterbox for inviting me to be a part of this blog tour and Emma at Emma Finnigan PR for my ecopy of In For the Kill to review.

I don't really like starting a series part way through as I like to start from the beginning so that I can get to know the characters, their back stories and the dynamics of working and personal relationships, so I was a bit apprehensive starting to read In For the Kill as its the fourth book in the DI Fenchurch series by Ed James but the first I have read. And I will admit that at first I had some catching up to do as it was clear that something pivotal had happened in DI Simon Fenchurch's past with his daughter that he was still dealing with now, and with regards to his relationships with some of his colleagues, but fortunately little snippets were revealed to enable newbies to the series like me to catch up with what had happened previously.

In for the Kill is a police procedural which is told over a number of days as DI Fenchurch and his colleagues investigate the death of university student Hannah Nunn who is found murdered in her dorm room.  This is extremely close to home for Fenchurch as his estranged daughter is also a student at the university. But as soon as the investigation begins it becomes clear that there's a lot more at play in the life of Hannah than first thought, and a seedier second life was revealed which introduced her to some unsavoury characters, which takes the investigation off on various tangents until the real culprit was identified.  

I loved Fenchurch who seemed to me like an old style detective who might not necessarily do everything completely by the book, unlike some of his younger up-and-coming colleagues, but the end justifies the means if they get a result.  It was obvious that there were issues with him and the top brass as he's not progressed further through the ranks, but I'm not sure whether that was entirely to do with his own style of policing or something to do with his father, an ex-cop, as I got the impression there was more to his character that is maybe told in the first three books in the series.  

I also enjoyed the way that the author weaved in events of Fenchurch's own personal life alongside the investigation as it gave us an insight into what makes him tick and see who he really is.  The whole Chloe/Jennifer situation must have been so painful to both him and his wife Abi, and it was clear that he was tortured everytime they were rejected when they tried to make contact.  You could also see the love and concern he had for Abi and their unborn child which is understandable when we discover circumstances regarding her previous pregnancy and obviously everything that happened to their daughter afterwards. And as for that cliffhanger, how could the author leave us hanging like that! 

Personally for me there were a few too many secondary characters as I did find myself getting a little lost at times as to who was who as new characters were being introduced which I do realise would probably happen in any real-life investigation as the various departments within the police and associated agencies cross paths, plus the witnesses and potential suspects as they crop up.  That was my main issue with the book as I had to stop and try to remember who they were and how they related to Fenchurch or the storyline. 

In for the Kill was a gritty read dealing with modern day issues such as transgender identity and the sex cam industry.  Overall although there were a few issues I did enjoy my first introduction to the writing of Ed James so will be back later in the Summer when book 5 in the series, Kill with Kindness, is published as I need to know how it all worked out in that final scene.