Delightful Read For Fans Of THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB

If the serial killer is in prison who is behind all the new bodies?! If that’s your fictional serial killer trope here’s a great start to a new British detective series.

DI Angelica Henley is having a rough time with her husband not wanting her to go back to work after a leave from being stabbed while on a case. With a young daughter and PTSD, he’d like her to just quit altogether. But she can’t not investigate when the same type of killings start again after the serial killer is already in prison… So she doesn’t actually tell him about the case she’s assigned to–whoopsie. Another big change is that she has a new partner at work, Salim Ramouter, to get to know and train. So between the bodies piling up (old serial killer got someone to work for them? Copycat killer?), a new partner, a pissed off husband, and some work drama, it’s the makings of an intense procedural you’d make a bucket of popcorn for if you were watching it on TV.

I really enjoyed the new partner dynamics (watching them have to get to know each other, trust each other, and navigate their own personal lives), Henley’s tug-of-war between her personal life and being a present mom while working, and that this felt very much like the procedural network shows I always get fully sucked into. I’m excited that it is the start to a series since I very much look forward to more of Henly and Ramouter and their next case. For fictional serial killer fans this should be your next pick!

(TW side character with early onset dementia/ mentions flasher case/ past rape case discussed, detail/ past suicide discussed, not detailed/ mentions suicide cases, brief detail/ panic attacks/ PTSD/ attempted rape)

This is a perfect read for fans of Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club for the excellent balance of murder mystery that doesn’t feel dark because of the unique cast of characters. It’s just a delight to read.

I’ll start with a note on it being the second book in a series: both novels can be read as standalones, although they are both worth reading. The Stranger Diaries (Review) is for fans of the book-within-a-book trope and nods to gothic stories. There is a side character detective who is more focused in the sequel, and ties the two books together: Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur.

Now onto The Postscript Murders. Peggy Smith passing away in her 90s, with a heart condition, isn’t a thing to alert the authorities over. But her home health caretaker Natalka starts to get an uneasy feeling and has some questions about Peggy having been a murder consultant. Starting with, what exactly does that mean and why are there so many books dedicated to her and her help?

The characters of this really make the story delightful, and Griffiths’ clear knowledge and love of the mystery genre shines through. Come for the murder of a “murder consultant” and stay for the mid-30s gay Sikh Detective Sergeant, the ex-monk coffeehouse owner, and former BBC broadcaster, all joining Natalka to solve this murder while getting to know each other better.