About the Book
A body is discovered with the dismembered parts of six victims stitched together, nicknamed by the press as the ‘Ragdoll’. Assigned to the shocking case are Detective William ‘Wolf’ Fawkes, recently reinstated to the London Met, and his former partner Detective Emily Baxter.
The ‘Ragdoll Killer’ taunts the police by releasing a list of names to the media, and the dates on which he intends to murder them. With six people to save, can Fawkes and Baxter catch a killer when the world is watching their every move?
My Review
I have been reading a lot of publicity mentions, followed by reviews praising Ragdoll over the last few months but I managed to save my copy to read until nearer publication.
After a high-profile court case goes against Wolf and his team his life changes dramatically. His marriage is over and he has been demoted at work after being forced to take a long leave of absence. But he is regarded as a celebrity cult figure by the media and the public, when a later event proved that the verdict of the court was the wrong one. The ‘ragdoll’ is a body that has been assembled from various other body parts. All the team need to identify the victims and try and prevent further people dying. They are not entirely successful in this matter.
Some of the murders in the book are the strangest and most brutal that I have come across and I read a lot of crime fiction. If they had all been bizarre I think it would have been too much but the balance was right. There was a lot of humour. Not just a little smile, this book had me laughing out loud a few times. Mostly at the expense of Wolf.
Wolf had to be one of the most mixed up detectives that I have come across but he wasn’t the only member of the team that had their issues. Baxter’s problems were the most believable but Edmunds was the one I had the most sympathy for. He never stood  a chance. The only one who seemed grounded was Finley. The media team were as usual, horrendous. Its nearly always a side of a novel that I struggle with and the ones that feature in this novel are the worst you can get.
An unexpected ending, that left me wanting a sequel. There has to be a future for Wolf and Baxter.
With thanks to the publisher for the copy via NetGalley.
Daniel Cole will be one of the authors participating in First Monday Crime in March. Details can be found here
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