Review: Left for Dead by Jane Casey

Title: Left for Dead

Author: Jane Casey    

Series: Maeve Kerrigan, #0.5     

Published: March 2014, Minotaur Books   

Format: E-book, 104 pages   

Source: Personal copy  

‘Two women died
every week in the UK at the hands of a partner or ex-partner. On
average, women endured thirty-five incidents of domestic abuse before
contacting the police.

And then I showed up the
thirty-sixth time and stumbled through my arguments for why the victim
should trust us. As if we could save them.

It had been
two months, and so far I remembered all of their faces. So far, none of
them had turned up on the daily briefing as the borough’s latest
homicide. ‘

A violent rapist is attacking women, leaving
them for dead on south London streets. Then young police woman Maeve
Kerrigan responds to a domestic disturbance and stumbles across the
latest victim. But as a new recruit – and a female to boot – she must
battle sexism from her colleagues in her bid to be taken seriously
enough to even assist on the case…

Jane Casey’s bestselling D.C. Kerrigan books have earned her
many fans. This exclusive digital short story takes Maeve back to her
early days as a rookie police woman.

My thoughts: I only recently heard about Jane Casey’s Maeve Kerrigan series and while this short story actually came out much later than the first book, because I am just starting the series, I decided to start with it. I’ve been on a big mystery/crime kick lately and have also been exploring foreign authors (non-US). 

Not having read any of the books in this series, I found this to be a great introduction to the character of Maeve Kerrigan. I went in with no expectations about who she was or how she would act in any situations. It was nice meeting her with a clean slate and seeing her without any prejudices in my mind. I got to see her in her early days as a rookie as she struggles to make a name for herself in the department.

I think I’m really going to like this series. Maeve seems like a strong female character and she’s a bit feisty, too, which I like! There’s no romantic involvement here, but I have suspicions that that won’t last the whole series – it rarely does. The question is – does she get involved with someone at work, or someone outside work? Either way, I’m excited to start this new-to-me series!

Books in this series:

      0.5  Left for Dead

      1.    The Burning

      2.    The Reckoning

      3.    The Last Girl

      4.    The Stranger You Know

      5.    The Kill