Book Review: The Fourth Victim by John Mead

I’m back to what I love the most. Books about murderers. Feel the same? Then jump right in!

Blurb

The Fourth Victim* by John Mead tries to solve the cases of young girls who have been targeted and killed in the green spaces of Whitechapel. It is up to Detective Sergeant Julie Lukula and Inspector Merry, who was already putting the death of the young female jogger, found in the park with her head bashed in, down to a mugging `gone wrong’. The victim deserved more. But the inspector isn’t ruling anyone out; the evidence will, eventually, lead him to an answer…

Review

This is most likely a cliche thing to say but I love reading about serial killers. I find the psychology of it all fascinating. I presumed that The Fourth Victim would offer some of that. However, it focused more on police procedure than anything else, something I’ve learned can be equally as fascinating (hence my latest obsession with Mindhunter). Keep in mind that books on police procedures can go very wrong. But not this one. It was well researched and realistic.

There are lots of characters in The Fourth Victim and short chapters that bounce between them. However, I was able to get a quick grasp on who they were. For a book that had a lot of characters, there was a really good sense of character development. I really understood each character and it was easy to see their purpose in the book. I also enjoyed how the characters were used to explore mental health, especially DID. Although I don’t want to give away much on the topic here as I don’t want to give any hints about the story.

Saying that, while The Fourth Victim sucked me in, the unravelling of events wasn’t a shocker to me. However, on the flip side I very much enjoyed the originality and complexity the story offers.

Would I recommend this book to others? Hell yeah! Especially as the dark nights are coming back in, this will be the perfect read.

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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