The Last Girl by Jane Casey

 

DC Maeve Kerrigan and her supervisor, DI Josh Derwent, have caught a bad case.  Philip Kennford is a defense attorney and a good one.  He lives in an expensive house with his wife, Vita and their teenage twin girls, Laura and Lydia.  But money doesn't ward off tragedy.  Someone has brutally murdered Vita and Laura in their living room with a knife.  

Kennford is admired for his legal expertise but that's about all.  He is a serial adulterer and has caused havoc in many lives because of it.  He doesn't seem that overwhelmed with grief and he is definitely keeping secrets.  But when Maeve and Derwent delve a bit deeper, that seems to be a pattern in this family.  Vita and Laura had their set of secrets and so does Lydia who is traumatized and refusing to share what she knows.

Then there are all the other things clamoring for attention.  There's a gangland war going on and their supervisor is getting lots of pressure to get that one solved.  Maeve's boyfriend, Rob, left their group and transferred when he and Maeve went public with their relationship.  Now he is not sleeping and staring out the windows at night but not sharing what's wrong.  Even worse, Maeve's stalker is back and threatening both Maeve and Rob's lives.  

This is the third book in the Maeve Kerrigan series and the first novel I've read by this author.  It is a good police procedural with the power structure and daily tensions and balancing acts necessary written and explained well.  Maeve is deeply independent, a trait that serves her well in her work and less well in her personal life.  I'll definitely be reading more by this author in this series.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.