THE PLOT: ‘The Deadly Spark’ by Roxie Key is a crime novel about a detective investigating a fatal fire. There has been a wave of arson attacks across Brighton and DC Eve Starling is investigating the latest blaze. Not only does the fire seem deliberate, but a mother and her five-year-old daughter didn’t make it out of the smoke. Naturally, the key suspects are the ex-husband or the current partner. But as Eve’s investigation reminds her of her own scorching past, she must dig deep into her trauma to catch the killer.

SUMMARY: It’s crime and thriller week on @aminasbookshelf! Yes, I’ve been devouring the genre ahead of hosting a panel at #BookHeath, a charity literary festival. In Blackheath, London, on Saturday 21 September, 7.30pm, I’ll be speaking to four brilliant authors about their approaches to the genre (tickets on sale here). I’m also featuring each of their novels on my blog, starting with this blazing dual-timeline, dual POV police procedural. With bisexual representation and tons of plot twists, this is a gripping debut novel. As our female detective uncovers layers and layers beneath the initial crime, this is a book that’ll keep you guessing who to trust.

GOOD BITS:  The crimes at the heart of detective stories usually speak to our society’s greatest fears, and I love it when they have a social justice message. I often find it elevates the plot, letting the reader reflect on right, wrong, and the blurred lines between the two. Now, this can sometimes be too obvious but this novel reflects on homophobia, misogyny and coercive control in a natural way that had me spitting fury at the male characters. Though some characters’ actions were questionable, I could understand the mindset that led to them, and I loved how everything tied together and these little red flags built into a complex web. I also felt the reveal on the final page worked extremely well (IFYKYK).

NOT SO GOOD BITS: This novel has two points-of-view; the detective investigating the crime and the murdered woman’s partner. Although I love multi-POV and I appreciated this balance, at times I felt the characters were quite similar and I struggled to differentiate between them. For example, they both feel quite naive and earnest, and sometimes I read a full page before realising I was envisioning the wrong character. Additionally, I really expected Tiana’s character to have a bigger role in the overall plot, given her joining the team was stressed so heavily at the start.

OVERALL: I’d recommend this book to fans of Lisa Jewell, Jane Casey and Clare Mackintosh, although I haven’t read any of their work… yet! It really made me think of the TV show ‘Line of Duty’ too, so pick this up if you liked that.

You can purchase this book with a discount and support @aminasbookshelf via my bookshop.org account.