The Last Girl

March 4, 2013
In Casey’s uneven third crime novel featuring Det. Constable Maeve Kerrigan (after 2012’s The Reckoning), Kerrigan and her misogynistic partner, Det. Insp. Josh Derwent, investigate the brutal murders of Vita Kennford and one of her 15-year-old daughters, Laura, in their posh London home. Vita’s husband, Philip, was battered in the attack, while Laura’s twin, Lydia, survived physically unscathed. When Philip, a notorious defense lawyer, appears oddly unconcerned about the terrible loss of his wife and daughter, Kerrigan and Derwent wonder whether Philip’s flattened affect is as deeply suspicious as it seems or merely a distraction from the true killer. A cursory examination of the family reveals a surfeit of secrets and enemies who might strike at Philip through those closest to him. The police proceedings will keep readers turning the pages, but the final revelations and the reasons for the murders may strike some as implausibly lurid and clichéd. Agent: Zoë Pagnamenta, Zoë Pagnamenta Agency.