An Eye for an Eye (Detective Kate Young, #1) by Carol Wyer (Goodreads Author)
Amy Caudill‘s review
The first book in this series introduces us to Detective Inspector Kate Young, a driven, successful British cop who has recently survived a trauma that is at first only alluded to in flashbacks and offhand comments, but the reader soon becomes aware affects her entire life, professionally and personally.
We meet Kate as she is attempting to come to terms with a tragedy she witnessed, while being on medical leave. Each day is a struggle, without the job that gives her purpose. When her boss calls her in to head a murder investigation, Kate worries that she is being set up to fail. She has to deal with a team that is concerned with her mental state, a couple of higher-ups that want to look over her shoulder and yet withhold vital Intel, and the fear that she is losing her mind.
The murderer soon strikes again, and a list of potential future targets includes one of her bosses, all while Kate is undergoing withdrawal from anxiety meds and trying to direct a team of seasoned cops who may or may not have her back. Will she be able to keep it together and prove she can still do the job before she is removed from the case or the killer strikes again?
Carol Wyer has written an excellent mystery with a complicated, driven heroine that I enjoyed reading very much. The actual antagonist was presented as a minor character in the story, someone that no one would have expected to be a criminal mastermind at first introduction, which gave the book a delicious twist.
That being said, the background plot was a little bit easier to guess. Maybe I’ve read too many mystery stories, but I figured out the mysterious fatal weapon before the detectives uncovered that information. I also understood the secret tragedy that Kate would not admit to herself until three quarters of the way through the book. I am intrigued with the direction the author chose to help Kate deal with her issue, and how that creates another character foil for her through the end of the story and probably into the next book.
I probably will pick up a copy of the next story to see how that situation further develops, as well as the tantalizing bits that her husband left for Kate to investigate about corruption in the police force. All in all, a very good story and a strong start for a series. I give this book four stars.