A twisted killer has a deadly riddle for DI Maya Rahman to solve in this pulse-racing thriller, the first in an addictive new series set in East London.
A headmistress is found strangled in her East London school, her death the result of a brutal and ritualistic act of violence. Found at the scene is a single piece of card, written upon which is an ancient Buddhist precept:
I shall abstain from taking the ungiven.
At first, DI Maya Rahman can’t help but hope this is a tragic but isolated murder. Then, the second body is found.
Faced with a community steeped in secrets and prejudice, and with a serial killer on her hands, Maya must untangle the cryptic messages left at the crime scenes to solve the deadly riddle behind the murders – before the killer takes another victim.
Published April 5th 2018 by HQ
I seem to have read a ton of brilliant ‘first in a new series’ detective novels recently, so there’s the risk that eventually one’s going to disappoint. Fortunately, Turn A Blind Eye by Vicky Newham was not that one, managing to deliver a fresh voice and a page turning plot in one swoop.
DI Maya Rahman has just returned from burying her brother and is immediately called in to head a murder investigation. During a staff training school, the Head of a local school which prides itself on diversity and multiculturalism, has been found murdered in her office. Beside her body is an Budhist precept – the second of five. It’s now a race against time to discover the murderer as one by one the remaining precepts are acted out.
I think what sets Turn A Blind Eye apart for me was the slightly different focus of the book. Yes, there were twists and turns and I was kept guessing as to who the perpetrator was, but it was the intricacies of the cultural tensions, misunderstandings and prejudices that made Turn A Blind Eye a really interesting read and gave it a fresh, relevant and original feel.
I really liked the character of Maya, and we get a little bit of her back story throughout the book, however I’d love to know more. She has an interesting history and I feel there’s a lot more to come. There’s still a mystery surrounding her childhood, which I hope means we’re going to be reading more of her soon!
I also really liked the Budest precept angle, it kind of reminded me a little of the film Se7en (but less gruesome!), and has Maya and her partner Dan preempting who the next victim may be. This created a gripping race against the clock type scenerio, which resulted in the ‘one more chapter’ effect and me tearing through the book in a couple of sittings.
Turn A Blind Eye is a fantastic start to a new series and one I’ll definitely be keeping up with. It’s got a relevant, fresh feel about it and I look forward to reading more about DI Maya Rahman.
