This is the third book in the social media murders series by Angela Clarke. A vicious rape and murder, is accidentally viewed by a member of the public on Periscope while she is surfing the web on her laptop who then brings it to the attention of the police. So far, so good and these kind of things have happened. Always be wary of random live feeds!

At first they are hesitant to investigate, as they believe that the murder could have happened anywhere and most probably occurred outside the country and therefore, their jurisdiction until the media become involved.

The two main characters are Freddie, a Police analyst and DS Nasreen Cudmore, her supervisor who are put on the case while juggling it with other investigations.

This novel gets three stars out of five from me. The build up is quite slow and it would be easy to lose interest. A central sub plot is the relationship between Freddie and Nas, full of the usual female angst about their love lives and social status. Some will really enjoy the interplay, but I just don’t emotionally invested in these things.

The pace quickens in the final third and this part I thoroughly enjoyed. It becomes a race against time to stop the next killing. There is a nice mix between the threat of violence and the actual violence. At the end, the author tries to tie everything up, relying a good bit of coincidence. Always difficult in a long novel and for me, she doesn’t manage it. All the same an enjoyable read, but not a classic or must-read.