Psychotherapist Frieda Klein’s home is her refuge until she returns to find it has become a disturbingly bloody crime scene. Beneath the floorboards the police have found the body of a man she had hired to help protect her.
The killer’s message is all too clear: you’re mine.
When those closest to Frieda begin to be targeted, the picture becomes more skewed: the patterns unclear.
Unless Frieda can find and stop whoever is threatening her friends and family, her love and loyalty could come at a truly fatal cost . . .
The title comes from a song that I know from the Johnny Cash Live at Folsom album and it’s a title that works well for this, the 7th book in the Frieda Klein series.
When I was offered the opportunity to read this book, I started with the first in the series, and I am glad I did. Although it is possible to read as a stand-alone, I think it really does help if you understand who the central protagonist is and what her relationship is with the killer, Dean Reeve.
Dean Reeve has long been thought by the police to have killed himself, but Frieda, a consultant psychologist knows better.
The police have reluctantly had to accept that Reeve is still alive and is probably responsible for the murder of a man who is not only known to Frieda, but whose body is placed under her floorboards.
Petra Burge takes charge of the police investigation as it becomes ever clearer that anyone whom Frieda loves or is close to is now in danger.
One by one her friends and family are targeted. But is this Dean Reeve – or should he be believed when he sends Frieda a message suggesting that she look elsewhere? Once again the Police are on the back foot as the reader is drawn into the complex web created by Dean Reeve and his copycat would-be competitor.
For Frieda, these events are intolerable. A character who has always valued her freedom and independence, she is now brought low by the knowledge that she is at the centre of the crimes that are doing such harm to her friends and family. She has to bring the perpetrator to justice, whatever it takes.
The book certainly moves at a fast pace with events following one another fast and furiously until your head is spinning. The characters are very well drawn and you feel you know them – in particular the new friendship – or at least understanding – between Frieda and Petra Burge is to be welcomed in an otherwise fairly male environment.
The conclusion is swift and brutal and leaves the reader wanting more – I feel sure there must be at least one more book to come. I’ll certainly be reading it if there is! A gripping series.
Sunday Morning, Coming Down was published by Michael Joseph on 13 July 2017
About Nicci French
Nicci French is the pseudonym for the writing partnership of journalists Nicci Gerrard and Sean French. The couple are married and live in Suffolk. There are fourteen other bestselling novels by Nicci French, all published by Penguin. Blue Monday was the first thrilling story in the Frieda Klein series, followed by Tuesday’s Gone, Waiting for Wednesday, Thursday’s Child, Friday on My Mind and Saturday Requiem.
Live and Deadly 