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The Binding Room

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Member Reviews

🪢BOOK / REVIEW 🪢

OK. Where in the world are my #crimefiction besties, at?! Holy HELL - I LOVED THIS BOOK.

@queennads blew blew BLEW me away with #thejigsawman, but dare I say my favorite novel by her now is #thebindingroom. Goodness grief - I couldn't consume this #audiobook fast enough. I am utterly obsessed with Inspector Henley - the fact that she writes incredibly strong (yet flawed and REAL) female characters of color at this level floors me. I loved Anjelica in book one, but this 2nd installment had me completely invested in her and Rummuta's character development.

This book is very dark - graphic, gory and utterly chilling. I COULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS BOOK (and series!) more. From what I know, this series appears to have longevity and I will be waiting with baded breath for the next installment.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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The Binding Room is one of my favorite books I’ve read this year!! Even though this crime fiction read was a long one, I flew through this unputdownable sequel. Author Nadine Matheson writes serial killers/crime suspense brilliantly! I can’t wait for the next.

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I am so happy I took another member of Killer Crime Club’s advice and read The Jig Saw Man by Nadine Matheson first before reading her latest book The Binding Room. The characters are likeable and the bond they share from the first novel helps you understand their thought process in The Binding Room. This book is a thrilling quick read filled sarcasm, sexual tension and the bonds that tie people together. Fingers crossed there is another sequel to this series
Thank you NetGalley and Nadine Matheson for the opportunity to read The Binding Room which was amazing.

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DI Anjelica Henley is back in The Binding Room by Nadine Matheson. If you enjoyed The Jigsaw Man, you won't be disappointed by this new one.

When Henley is called to investigate the murder of a popular preacher, she gets more than she bargained for when they find an unconscious and tortured man in a secret room of the church.

Faced with multiple suspects, a possible missing child, and more bodies, Henley must unravel the tangled web to catch a sadistic killer.

Matheson is an amazing crime writer. At over 500 pages, this one was a bit chunky for a thriller, but there wasn't much that didn't add to the story, so I don't think it could have been shorter. I'm definitely excited for more from this author.

CW: violence, body horror, religious trauma, murder, torture, sexual assault, rape, miscarriage, pregnancy, forced institutionalization, racism (check The StoryGraph for more CW I might have missed)

Thank you to the author, publisher, and @NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

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Happy Monday friends! I finished 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑅𝑜𝑜𝑚 by author Nadine Matheson @queennads this past weekend and it was amazing!

So this is the second book of the Inspector Anjelica Henley Serial Crime Unit Series and although I did read it as a stand-alone, I do wish I had read the first book 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐽𝑖𝑔𝑠𝑎𝑤 𝑀𝑎𝑛 first. There was a lot of dialouge pertaining to the first book that piqued my interest so I’m 100% going to go backwards and read the first book this week😂!

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑅𝑜𝑜𝑚 is one of the best police procedurals I’ve ever read. The storyline is dark and chilling, so gripping that you will find yourself flying through the pages. This is a hefty book, coming in at 500+ pages but it is so addicting that even at the end you are left wanting more.

The storyline was intriguing, thrilling, disturbing, and there was never a dull moment. The whole time I found myself rooting for the detectives to figure out this craziness. Speaking of the detectives, the character relationships and character developments were spot on and the whole Serial Crime Unit was the perfect mix of character personalities.

✨100% FIVE STAR READ✨
This book is now available! Special thanks to @netgalley and @hanoversquarepress for the early copy!

SYNOPSIS: “ When Detective Anjelica Henley is called to investigate the murder of a popular preacher in his own church, she discovers a second victim, tortured and tied to a bed in an upstairs room. He is alive, but barely, and his body shows signs of a dark religious ritual.

With a revolving list of suspects and the media spotlight firmly on her, Henley is left with more questions than answers as she attempts to untangle both crimes. But when another body appears, the case takes on a new urgency. Unless she can apprehend the killer, the next victim may just be Henley herself.”


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It was a really great crime novel. I haven’t read the first in the series but I absolutely will be. Thank you NetGalley because I’d never have found it without this site.

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Five stars!

While still reeling from the physical and emotional fallout from the events of The Jigsaw Man, DI Henley and DC Ramouter and the SCI team are called upon to solve the murder of a pastor who is, well, less than godly -- and the victims keep piling up while the pressure closes in from the victims’ families, politicians, and their superiors.

This series is everything I could ask for, dark, graphic and intense, tightly plotted with a great team of characters. (Seriously, can I do more than five stars? Please?) I was really impressed by her first novel, The Jigsaw Man, and now with The Binding Room, Nadine Matheson has easily become an absolute must-read author for me.

You could probably read this as a standalone without much trouble, but you really should read the first book in order to fully appreciate the characters’ relationships and motivations, as well as some references to events in the first book. Do not miss this -- I’m already waiting for book three!

I am so grateful to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/Hanover Square Press for the opportunity to read and review The Binding Room.

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Detective Anjelica Henley is back with a bizarre and frightening murder to solve. A popular preacher is found dead in his own church, with a second victim tied and tortured in a bed in an upstairs room. Barely alive, the second victim shows signs of a dark religious ritual. Henley not only has to solve both crimes, but she soon finds the media spotlight on her yet again. If she can't find the killer, they may come after her and her family.

For readers of the previous book The Jigsaw Man, you're going to find more of the smart and nail-biting writing that Nadine Matheson is becoming known for. Her experience as a criminal attorney makes the mysteries frightening, but fascinating. She also explores how issues of race and class impact the justice system.

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This is the second entry in a new series and I hadn’t read the first one. There is clearly a lot stemming from that novel, but it was still easy to understand what was going on, without it being repetitive. The procedural part is very addictive. A preacher is murdered and his body is found next to a secret room where a man lays captive, bound to a bed. It is pretty obvious that the preacher was involved in this, but it’s also apparent that the prisoner was in no state to have murdered anyone, so we get two mysteries, who killed the preacher and what happened to the captive. There are many suspects and red herrings. I saw one of the baddies coming, but not the other responsible parties. I liked the cops and their interactions and dialogues. I don’t normally enjoy a big subplot of personal details about the detectives, but in this case I was equally engrossed by it. The author finds the perfect balance between action and feelings. Anjelica Henley and her team are likable and I can’t wait to read more of their adventures.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Harlequin Trade Publishing, Hanover Square Press!

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enjoyed this read very much.

Admittedly, I missed the fact that it was the second book with Inspector A. Henley and did at times wonder if I missed some important background but in the end I don't feel it took away from the overall story. I'm always looking for a story to capture my attention and this one certainly did with lots of details to build up the characters and move the story forward with twists and turns along the way.

I enjoyed getting to know the characters and I definitely look forward to reading more from Nadine Matheson.

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What It's About: The body of a popular preacher is discovered in his church and soon after, a second victim is found tortured and tied to a bed in a room. He is barely alive and his body show signs of a religious ritual.

My thoughts: The Jigsaw Man was one of my favourite reads last year and so I was really excited to read the second book in this series! The story begins with an intense scene and the crime was brutal. I loved the suspense and the investigation conducted by Henley.

Unfortunately, the overall story dragged a lot for me and while I usually do not mind a character driven story, this one fell flat for me. It just wasn't as captivating as The Jigsaw Man and lacked the wow factor.

Regardless, I will still read the author's next book as I really like Detective Henley!


Pub. Date: July 12th, 2022


***Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing, Hanover Square Press and NetGalley for this gifted reading copy. All opinions expressed are my own.***

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Sweet mother of pearl, WHAT A RIDE.

The Binding Room is a dark, twisty, compelling police procedural, the second in Nadine Matheson’s Inspector Anjelica Henley series. I haven’t read the first, but I don’t feel like my reading of this one suffered for it.

DI Anjelica Henley has a lot on her plate. She’s dealing with the loss of a loved one, the fallout from an affair with her superior, and PTSD from her near-death experience at the hands of a suspect on a previous investigation. But all that has to take a back seat when a young woman goes to her job cleaning a church and finds the pastor, ostensibly a respected pillar of the community, brutally murdered. The SCU is called in to investigate. But when another person is found bound and clearly subjected to torture in a hidden room of the church, the SCU must also consider whether the pastor was victimizer as well as victim.

First, let me say that this isn’t a book for the faint of heart. It deals with some fairly gory descriptions of injuries, and it covers the topics of abuse and mental health in a way that might be unsettling or upsetting for some. It also portrays an ostensibly Christian church in a less than flattering light.

But if those things don’t put you off reading, this is a nail-biter of a story. This isn’t just one murder, it’s several, and the SCU has to figure out how they all tie together. A horrifying picture unfolds of unthinkable acts committed under the guise of exorcisms. But worse still, one of the victims had recently given birth. Where is her baby? In the hands of a killer?

Matheson’s background in the criminal arena shines through. You don’t write this kind of story this well without having some personal experience in the matter. With the way the SCU was written, though, as a team who have each other’s backs even when they’re giving each other good-natured grief, I would have pegged her for a prosecutor (I was one in a former work incarnation). She paints a thorough picture of police procedure and the criminal justice system.

The story is set in London, and there are a few terms and acronyms that might not be familiar to someone who hasn’t operated within the UK legal system. I was able to gather the meaning of those from context pretty well, and the jargon didn’t keep me from reading at speed and well past my bedtime.

The Binding Room is a five-star read for me. Dark, twisty, and absolutely enthralling. I look forward to reading more from Nadine Matheson!

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When Nadine Matheson releases a Sophomore novel, you do not walk, you run to buy the book!

After reading The JigSaw Man, I knew that I was locked in and I would forever be a fan of Nadine Matheson. When I saw The Binding Room, pop up on Netgalley, I knew that I did not even need to read the synopsis to know that I wanted it.

The Binding Room is part of the Inspector Anjelica Henley series (Book #2). This book can be read as a standalone, however, I would not recommend it. The JigSaw Man laid so much foundation, I promise you, you do not want to miss out on it anyway. The binding room is an intense thriller with a side of police procedural. Typically I avoid police procedurals but recently I have enjoyed them especially if they are well written.

The Binding Room, clearly became one of my favorite books of the year. The writing style is addicting and done with precision. The twist was executed perfectly and my attention was never lost from start to finish.

I can not wait to see what book 3 holds as book 2 definitely outdid itself! Congratulation to Nadine Matheson on her Sophomore novel, you knocked this one out of the park!

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This is the 2nd book in the Anjelica Henley series. I have to say, this one started out really slow for me. I picked it up, put it down, picked it up, put it down ... Finally, I picked it up, and I didn't put it down until I finished it. Dark and gritty, slightly disturbing but a definite must read. Looking forward to the next one.

I highly recommend you read The Jigsaw Man first, but The Binding Room could be read as a stand-alone. I definitely think you need the backstory to understand the emotional/psychological history of Anjelica and her team.
4.5/5

Thank you #netgalley and #htp #hanoversquarepress for the eARC.

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Como eu adoro um bom thriller nada melhor que trazer esse lançamento para vocês!

A detetive Henley acabou de passar por um evento traumático, ela e sua equipe estão passando por muitos problemas pessoais que parecem interferir cada vez mais no trabalho. Quando Anjelica é chamada para investigar o assassinato de um pastor e encontra um jovem acorrentado a uma cama as coisas começam a se complicar. Seria o pastor a vítima ou o algoz? E quando mais corpos começam a aparecer eles podem estar lidando com um serial killer.

Vocês sabem que eu não resisto a um bom livro de investigação criminal e com uma detetive para acompanhar. Em The Binding Room acompanhamos a detetive Anjelica Henley, e eu descobri depois que esse é o segundo volume de uma série, confesso que alguns acontecimentos passaram batido para mim, mas a história principal fluiu perfeitamente.

Esse foi o meu primeiro contato com a escrita dessa autora, que traz a representatividade nesse livro de uma maneira muito bem estruturada e com discussões raciais muito pertinentes. Diferente de algumas outras séries, essa se passa na Inglaterra, mais especificamente em Londres.

A detetive Henley acabou me incomodando um pouco por ser uma mulher forte, mas que ao mesmo tempo se encontra em uma situação de vulnerabilidade por ser mulher. Ela sofre pressão por parte da família e do marido para engravidar novamente e ela simplesmente não quer mais filhos. Na realidade ela já se sente um fracasso como mãe e essa abordagem da maternidade compulsória foi muito bem trabalhada. Acontece que Anjelica Henley não ama mais o marido, ela é apaixonada pelo chefe e isso fica claro ao longo do livro, só ela que não quer admitir.

A investigação do crime entrega tudo que os fãs do gênero esperam. Mistério, crimes sexuais e religiosos e muitas reviravoltas. Foram muitos os momentos que eu achei que havia descoberto o assassino para depois ser surpreendida. O livro te prende do começo ao fim e você nem percebe que ele tem mais de 400 páginas.

Enfim, é uma ótima opção para os fãs do gênero.

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4.5 stars
Crime procedural with a dark edge? Nadine Matheson is 100% your author!
Thank you to HarperCollins Canada and Netgalley for my eARC for review!
The Binding Room is one of my most-anticipated books of the year, as it's the second in the series featuring DI Angelica Henley from The Jigsaw Man.
Friends, this sequel does NOT disappoint.
The same gritty, fast-paced storytelling that hooked us in The Jigsaw Man is here again, and possibly even more, in The Binding Room.
Pastor Caleb Annan has been stabbed to death in his church, which oddly isn't the most disturbing thing found in the building. A barely-alive young man is found in a hidden room in the church, with injuries chronicling torture and neglect.
This sets off a series of finding further victims with similar abuse, and investigations of who is behind it and why.
This is a relentlessly readable book, with not one extraneous scene. It all flows and fits and pertains.
Henley, Ramouter, Pellacia et al are back, and even more fascinating in the second installment - these are characters I can't wait to follow the stories of through the rest of the series.
For fans of Criminal Minds/CSI-style thrillers, highly recommended!
Released on July 12.

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I loved seeing these characters back for a sequel! I was a big fan of all the gore in this book, but I was not a fan of the length. I’m already anxiously awaiting the next book #NadineMatheson writes!

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Another great police procedural from Matheson! THE BINDING ROOM is dark, intricate, and suspenseful. I love following these characters. I also enjoyed the discussion of mental health aspects throughout. Readers who like shows like Criminal Minds would enjoy this book and series!

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This was the first book that I read by this author and it will not be my last. There were twists and turns all the way through this book. There was a lot of psychological suspense and some murders. I wish I had read the first book in the series because then I would have understood the main characters a little better. This kept me on the edge of my seat throughout much of the story.. I hope to learn more about Henley and the rest of her team in the next book of the series. I received a copy of this book from harlequin for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

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I really enjoyed this thriller read.

This time DI Anjelica Henley and SCU investigating a brutal murder of a preacher in his own church and then there's another victim and then there's a another dead body and another and another and this one become a complicated case. Yup it's a page-turner gripping intriguing thriller read. It might not a fast-paced one, because police procedural takes times but I don't mind a bit, because it's still very engaging, I keep turning page after page wondering what is going on and add SCU members personal problems and all the effects of the previous case that still impacting their lives, this book become unputdownable.

Gripping thriller read with great strong characters, definitely highly recommended, but please read the content warning, lots of gruesome details that really hard to stomach.

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