Don’t Look Behind You by Mel Sherratt #Book #Review

Posted by
Don't Look Behind You Book Cover Don't Look Behind You
Detective Eden Berrisford #2
Mel Sherratt
police procedural, crime
Bookouture
January 31st 2017
Kindle
287
NetGalley

She got into bed but sleep didn’t come easily. Every creak in the house made her alert. She was waiting for him to come and get her.

The small city of Stockleigh is in shock as three women are brutally attacked within days of each other. Are they random acts of violence or is there a link between the victims? For Detective Eden Berrisford, it’s her most chilling case yet.

The investigation leads Eden to cross paths with Carla, a woman trying to rebuild her life after her marriage to a cruel and abusive man ended in unimaginable tragedy. Her husband Ryan was imprisoned for his crimes but, now he’s out and coming for her.

As Eden starts to close in on the attacker, she also puts herself in grave danger. Can she stop him before he strikes again? And can Carla, terrified for her life, save herself - before the past wreaks a terrible revenge?

I’ve been hearing about Mel Sherratt as an author for a while and finally managed to give it a try. Such a shame to me that this is my first book of hers. But I can promise you one thing, it won’t be my last! This is the second one in the series, but don’t be bothered by that. It can perfectly stand all alone.

Detective Eden Berrisford and her team face one of hardest cases in the career. There are several brutal attacks on local women, within a time frame of a couple of days. The victims are terrified, hurt and scared. They can’t even describe the attacker because his face is always covered and he doesn’t say a word. The investigation leads Eden to a woman’s refuge, The Willows, where abused women can find peace and safety for a while. But the abuse is not only a physical issue, it leaves psychological scars. One of the women in the shelter is Carla, who ran away from an abusive marriage that cost her her daughter’s life. A home is never a home, just a place where you sleep. She can never settle down, she always looks over her shoulder, always checks the doors twice. She escaped, but in her mind, he is always there. And something in the new arrival’s testimonies looks familiar! Should she tell what she knows or should she stay quiet and become the victim again?

Detective Eden has a tough job to do. Attacks on women continue, each one worse than the previous one. She has to hurry if she wants to save the next victim and put the bastard behind the bars.

Domestic violence is never an easy issue to write or read about. I truly admire those authors capable of writing realistic abusive scenes and bringing them up to the reader. Here, the author brings up several stories of domestic violence and combines them with brutal attacks out on the street. She vividly describes the police officers’ daily challenges and dangers they face every time they answer a call. Truly amazing!

As I said previously, this won’t be my last book of this author. It is not classical police procedural where there are a detective and a serial killer, but a police case that is seen from all points of view, the police officer’s, the victim’s and all people involved. Many emotions are into this story, you can not stay untouched. It will keep you on the edge until the last page!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *