Vanda Simon
Orenda Books, 16 February 2023
Available as: PB, 246pp, audio, e
Source: Purchased/ audio subscription
ISBN(PB): 9781914585579
Detective Sam Shephard's latest adventure treads familiar ground in some respects - she's still suffering under DI Johns - but goes to new places in others - the case we follow here is even more personal than usual. Sam is shortly to give birth, so the murder and mutilation of a pregnant woman in a Dunedin backstreet obviously comes very close to home (and gives DI Johns a new excuse to try and shut her out of the investigation).
Beneath the shocking horror, it's a cleverly constructed mystery, Sam's condition however giving her few natural insights into why somebody would do such a thing. That, and DI Johns' success in keeping her away from the centre of things, leaves time and space to explore how Sam is feeling at this juncture in her life: her partner Paul, and her ever disapproving mother, coming and going through the narrative to give us different perspectives. As readers of this series will be aware, Sam's life is never straightforward and we've seen her change from the carefree young woman of the early books to, well, nearly a mother (but emphatically not one who will be a clone of her own mother - the tension between the two is still palpable, even if here things are a bit more peaceable than before).
But Sam being Sam, she's never going to let herself be kept out of things, is she? It's just a matter of interpreting DI Johns' orders creatively... and of not being afraid to have a stand-up slanging match with him when the time comes (go, Sam!) As ever, Sam places her quest for justice ahead of common sense and self-preservation. And you can guess the outcome of that when Johns finds out about it.
All in all, a satisfying and engaging return to one of my favourite detectives doing what she does best - ie causing trouble. This series shows no sign of flagging and I have high hopes that in the next instalment we'll see Sam coping with new complications as a mother and again firmly keeping Johns in his place.
For more information about Expectant, see the publisher's website here.
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