Sanctuary is another excellent story, Book 8 in the Kate Redman series. With each book, DS Redman becomes a more assured detective and a more rounded character. And Celina Grace becomes a more assured writer.
I like this series for: a very likeable, interesting protagonist; good plotting; good dialogue; good storytelling; British mystery in the classic tradition but with modern themes and approach; light reading.
The series’ stories often revolve around a contemporary issue: in this case, when a body is found on the beach it raises questions about refugees and illegal immigrants. The man is assumed to be an asylum seeker who drowned while attempting to enter the country.
I particularly like that the murderers are ‘ordinary’ people killing for ‘ordinary’ reasons. I have virtually abandoned popular murder mysteries due to their reliance on ever-more twisted serial killers who kill for ever-more twisted reasons. They are far-fetched, overly violent and psychologically uninteresting. I prefer Celina Grace’s books — real people in real situations. Please, keep it like that!
The mysteries are resolved with somewhat too much reliance on Kate’s intuitive leaps, but that doesn’t really bother me. I don’t read these books for the forensic investigation but more for the overall story that evolves across the series.
Find Sanctuary on Amazon and at other bookstores.
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