Review - Blue Monday by Nicci French

Blue Monday by Nicci French

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Blurb from goodreads

The stunning first book in a new series of psychological thrillers introducing an unforgettable London psychotherapist

Frieda Klein is a solitary, incisive psychotherapist who spends her sleepless nights walking along the ancient rivers that have been forced underground in modern London. She believes that the world is a messy, uncontrollable place, but what we can control is what is inside our heads. This attitude is reflected in her own life, which is an austere one of refuge, personal integrity, and order.

The abduction of five-year-old Matthew Farraday provokes a national outcry and a desperate police hunt. And when his face is splashed over the newspapers, Frieda cannot ignore the coincidence: one of her patients has been having dreams in which he has a hunger for a child. A red-haired child he can describe in perfect detail, a child the spitting image of Matthew. She finds herself in the center of the investigation, serving as the reluctant sidekick of the chief inspector.

Drawing readers into a haunting world in which the terrors of the mind have spilled over into real life, Blue Monday introduces a compelling protagonist and a chilling mystery that will appeal to readers of dark crime fiction and fans of In Treatment and The Killing.


My review

This is the first book in a series (the rest to follow), Frieda Klein is a psychotherapist who ends up taking on a patient from another doctor and notices similarities between what he has been fantasizing about and a child who has gone missing. Soon a whole tangled web unfolds and a connection to a missing child from 20 years back ties in with this recent disappearance.

I have read a few Nicci French books and really liked them but I struggled so much with this one for a few reasons. Firstly I don't normally mind typos or mistakes but there seemed to be a lot in this book which put me off pace a bit. The chapters are confusing in that the detectuve is speaking to someone then there is a small gap (page break) and the "the first punch missed his jaw and landed on his neck". Leading us onto a different scene and it happens quite a bit, another time it is someone describing sounds and just words and you have to re read and go back to figure out who it is and the scene has changed.

Freida's character also annoyed me as she seemed very indecisive and always seeking out colleagues and double checking her findings and asking for advice. I would have loved to have seen a strong minded able woman in this role. She was also contradictory in that she would be needing advice and questioning constantly but then go to her boss (ex boss) and tell him off or give advice then go back into pupil mode. The inconsistency really irked me as did they way her and the detective interacted with each other, it was very flat and forced and almost childish in some points.

Most of the twists for me weren't really twists as I could see them coming which is a first for me although there was one I was Oh My God as I didn't see it coming but overall I didn't like this book much at all. I do like this author and would read the next book if it came into my possession but I wouldn't be rushing out to get it so 2/5 for me. That said some people loved it so it seems we have another marmite book so give it a go and see which side you fall on.

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