Thursday, January 26, 2023

Review: The Mentor by Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli


 

Genre: Thriller

Description:

“What if someone you love is a serial killer?

DCI Eric Shaw, leading a forensic team at Scotland Yard, together with DI Miriam Leroux from a Murder Investigation Team, is investigating the death of a known offender. Killed by two gunshots: one to his neck, execution style, but preceded by another to his groin, implying a more personal motive.

Shaw’s attention at work is often distracted by a young forensic investigator, Adele Pennington, who is a beautiful woman over two decades his junior. However, his attraction to her is unreciprocated.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the London police, an anonymous blog describes the details of a very similar crime. The author of the blog signs herself as Mina, like one of the victims in a case Shaw investigated many years ago.

Twenty years ago Eric saved her.

Who will save him now?

Meet DCI Eric Shaw . . . and his pupil.”

Author:

“Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli is an Italian science fiction and thriller author.

She has lived in Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy) since 1993, earning a degree in biology and working as independent author, scientific and literary translator, educator and science communicator.”

Ms Monticelli has written several books, all available in her native Italian, and some of them, like this one, translated to English (a British style English in this case).

For more, visit her website and follow her on Facebook.

Appraisal:

DCI Eric Shaw, the protagonist of this book and the remaining books in this trilogy, is the leader of the forensic team that helps police detectives in their investigations. While there is never any doubt that he’s one of the good guys, it is also apparent early on that he’s sometimes willing to stretch or break rules to get what he perceives as the correct result. As the older, more experienced investigator he also acts as a mentor to those less experienced, especially a young forensics investigator who he has a long history with and also to some degree a young detective.

This case is interesting for many reasons. In spite of the reader knowing a few key pieces that DCI Shaw doesn’t, you’re still left guessing about what is really going on and wondering what you’ve missed as he and his coworkers uncover each new piece. Just when you think you’ve finally figured things out, here comes another twist. A unique and entertaining read.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Uses British English and slang.

This is the first book in The Detective Eric Shaw Trilogy. The others have been published in Italian and are slated to be republished in English in the near future.

Format/Typo Issues:

A small number of issues.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 60-65,000 words

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