This is another book that I've had on my shelf for a very long time. When I first got this it was a brand new series and now there are 11 books plus some novellas in the series. Maeve is an Irish woman who lives in London and is a fairly new DC. She is in a man's world and her coworkers don't let her forget it. She is picked for a task force that investigates the worst crimes in the city, and the case that Maeve is on now is "The Burning Man" a serial killer who beats a woman walking home at night and then burns them all out in the open. We open after 4 of these crimes have been committed and we have a 5th body who doesn't completely match the MO of the murderer. As Maeve digs into the victim's life she unravels a woman's life who was in complete chaos and digs up a past crime that was never solved.

The book features three to four main cases: the primary case involving Burning Man, a throwaway case, Rebecca’s case—which may or may not be related to Burning Man—and a case that Rebecca was questioned about while she was at Oxford. The narrative starts off strong, diving into Rebecca’s life and revealing how little anyone truly knew her. Maeve fluctuates between suspects in Rebecca’s murder while engaging in a stakeout that nearly results in her own death.

Though the villain is eventually caught, I found the ending to be disappointing. It felt like a cop-out, as it failed to deliver on the intense violence, investigation, and vital clues that had been introduced throughout the story. The conclusion was anticlimactic, with the antagonist explicitly explaining everything, which took away from what was otherwise an engaging book.

Additionally, amidst these serious crimes, there’s a brewing romance and crushes on various characters that seem underdeveloped and come off as afterthoughts. Overall, the book is still intense and intriguing, but the ending could have been executed much better.

This book is absolutely fantastic and reading this one on NetGalley has caused me to read each and every one the moment it comes out. Excellent series, love Maeve Kerrigan, and Jane Casey's writing is fantastic.

The Burning: A Maeve Kerrigan Crime Novel – Book 1) by Jane Casey

498 Pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books
Release Date: May 8, 2012

Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, British Police Procedural

Maeve Kerrigan is a Detective Constable and asked to participate on a murder task force to solve the Burning Man case. The name comes from the way the murder kills and burns his victims. The latest victim, Rebecca Haworth, does not have similar wounds to the other victims and Maeve begins to wonder if she was killed by a copycat.

The book has a fast pace, the characters are somewhat developed, and it is written in the third person point of view from multiple perspectives. This is the first book in the series and I look forward to reading the rest of the series. If you like British detective stories, you will enjoy reading this one.

I love a good psychological thriller story, and was very keen to dive into "The Burning." Ultimately, though, I have mixed feelings about this one. I liked Maeve as a main character and found the Burning Man case compelling – but when the book shifted gears and the serial killer case went on the back burner, this became more of a character-driven whodunnit than a psychological thriller, and the big reveal felt anticlimactic.

Overall, I think Casey is a talented writer and I enjoyed the characters she crafted – I just wish that the plot of "The Burning" had more closely matched the description.

I'm slowly making way through my long backlist of books that have been sitting on my TBR for a long time. The Burning is one of those books. This one is the first book in the Maeve Kerrigan series. She is a rookie detective who is on the hunt for a serial killer.
I have mixed feelings about this one. On one hand, I really liked Maeve as a character. She is intelligent and doesn't make dumb mistakes. She works hard to earn respect form her colleagues. But isn't afraid to call them out on poor behavior. I liked her partner and thought the late in the book switch to his perspective was great as it gave me more insight into his character and motivations. I'm not sure I love the direction their relationship is going. I'm reserving judgement.
The mystery was a bit complex as it seems one of the murder victims is an outlier. I called the twist of that killer early on. So, I was just waiting for the detectives to catch up. The reveal of the serial killer was kind of anti climatic and came out of nowhere. But, honestly that wasn't the real focus of the book. It's the outlier. There is a confession letter in the end of the book that went on way too long. It could have been cut way back and still got the point across. So, I liked it well enough to try the next one, if only for the characters.

Hmm. There are some good elements in here, particularly a stubborn, smart female detective and unreliable narration. Nevertheless, the book disappointed and frustrated me. I am not one to successfully guess solutions for mysteries or thrillers, but I saw the ending for this one a mile away. The plot is myopically focused on the murder of a beautiful, seemingly successful white woman (despite other victims). [SPOILER] One of murderers is a first-generation British citizen of Armenian descent; the other is a woman who grew up in poverty. A rapist and abuser goes free. (/SPOILER] That said, I could see Kerrigan's character development go in some interesting directions and understand why others might pick up subsequent volumes.

First book in the series, and while it sets things up nicely and has a decent protagonist, the mystery is just fair. I will give others in the series a chance to see where things develop.

Maeve is a strong protagonist in another of the series bearing her name, but she still needs to become more dimensional. She's getting there. I am beginning to be able to envision her as her personality is developed in this series.

While cleaning out my backlog i discovered this unreviewed book. Unfortunately i must not have downloaded it in time.

I love Tana French novels... This was compared to her works, but unfortunately did not live up to my expectations. Dragged in parts and was difficult to follow the different points of view. Interesting plot and some unique twists.