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In Linda Regan's debut outing she had cops DI Paul Banham and DS Alison Grainger circling tentatively round each other and you just knew it was likely to end in tears. The second book of the series doesn't look much more promising either. PASSION KILLERS has the two detectives investigating the death of two former sex trade workers. The women have links to a small group from 19 years back who worked in the seriously tacky Scarlet Pussy Club. Their association ended with the death of club owner Ahmed. Now Brian Finn, who was imprisoned for Ahmed's murder, is out of jail. And several of the women have a lot to lose if their background becomes common knowledge – Olivia is married to a top MP and Katie is one of the nation's favourite soap stars. Regan's first book BEHIND YOU! was set in the theatre world and she showed herself to be highly adept at handling a cast of characters. At times the police procedural aspect seemed the least interesting part of the novel, and the same is true of PASSION KILLERS. The book is at its most compelling when Regan shows us the women, two of whom have turned respectable, one lives with a policewoman and the other two are struggling to escape their seedy past. The police scenes are generally fine, as Regan creates a close-knit team, but with the inevitable tensions both personal and private. But I couldn't help thinking that she is going to have to move the Paul/Alison set-up along pretty smartly next time out, as there is a limit to how long the reader will tolerate pussy-footing! My solution, clearly wearing my agony aunt hat, was to give the pair of them a good shake and tell them to sit down and talk to each other! Naturally both have dysfunctional lives – Paul trying to live with the memory of his murdered wife and daughter, and to deal with his twin sister who has her own secrets, and the borderline anorexic Alison whose insecurities become really rather tiresome as the book progresses. PASSION KILLERS is confidently told and kept me hooked more or less throughout – and there's a neat twist which I certainly didn't see coming. But I'd like to see how Regan gets on writing a non-police book. With her eye for characters and ear for dialogue, I reckon she'd do just fine.
Reviewed by Sharon Wheeler, November 2007
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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