A Stranger in the Family by Jane Casey: A Maeve Kerrigan Mystery

Helena and Bruce Marshall have not been the same since their nine-year-old daughter Rosalie disappeared 16 years ago, so when they are murdered Detective Sergeant Maeve Kerrigan and Inspector Josh Derwent have to investigate both incidents to determine if there is a connection. Maeve and Josh have not worked a case together recently, following their undercover work together in The Close, and his live-in girlfriend is jealous of Maeve, who tries to concentrate on the case at hand.

Helena had been a self-righteous advocate for adoption despite not having had an easy time with her own adopted child or treated her kindly.  She had usually been exasperated with her adopted daughter, Rosalie, then tried to commit suicide when the media blamed her for the girl’s disappearance and suffered irreversible brain damage. What looks like a murder-suicide is revealed to be a double murder but there aren’t a lot of obvious suspects. There are two sons who had been teenagers when their sister disappeared and don’t get along and a would-be podcaster searching for a sensational story. Maeve has an unerring ability to see past the surface in her cases to figure out what is really going on (this is what makes her a good detective) but sometimes, as here, the pieces fit together just too late, leaving her in jeopardy.

My Impression: My sisters and I are big fans of this series, now in book 11, but Jane Casey is in a tricky position. Her fans like the mysteries but we also want to know if Maeve and Josh will wind up together. He no longer cares for his girlfriend, Melissa, but he is very attached to her son Thomas, and Melissa has made it clear she will not allow him to maintain contact with Thomas if they break up. Of course, it shows what a bad person she is to make such threats and what a decent person (despite his numerous flaws) Josh is to care about a child unrelated to him. I don’t think Maeve is at her best around Josh, who constantly needles her and bosses her around, but if he’s what she wants, I won’t stand in her way, although I liked her ex-boyfriend Rob better. Their dour Detective Superintendent Una Bert seems determined to keep them apart (despite not liking either very much) and Maeve’s friends are extremely wary and protective of her. Also, Jane Casey may think I’ve forgotten but I know Maeve has an old stalker out there, just biding his time. I don’t remember what book he was in but he was an IT professional, watching her from across the hall in her own apartment building (was it The Stranger You Know? This is going to bother me until I do a complete reread). So if, as it appears, the author wants to spin out their not being together longer or is worried readers will lose interest if they finally get together, there are various ways she can keep the series going.

I mentioned recently that I am finding an overabundance of podcasts in my crime fiction. While Maeve is at the crime scene, she sees someone who turns out to be a would-be podcaster extracting something from her car, into which he has broken, and she comes down on him hard:

“Is that the tool you used to break into my car? Are you admitting it’s yours?”

“I – no, I –”

He fumbled his phone out of his pocket and keyed in the code to unlock it as the second attempt, his hands shaking.

“Are you planning to record this conversation?”

“I am, yes.” He had managed to open the camera and had switched it to record video, but he was struggling with the record button.

“Not working? That’s a shame. Let me see.” I picked it out of his hand and dropped it, sending it after the screwdriver with a swift sideways shove.

“That’s – that’s mine too. My personal property. You can’t do that.”

“It was an accident,” I said, my eyes wide with innocence. “I’ll get it back for you before we go to the nick.”

“To the – you mean, you’re going to arrest me?”

It is infuriating for Maeve that he resists arrest and Josh comes along just in time to slam him against the car hard enough to knock the breath out of his body. I enjoyed this book and understand Maeve’s preoccupation with Josh but those who prefer their thrillers without romance should start with the early books in the series.

Publication: Hemlock Press, hardcover, 2024
Genre: Mystery
Setting: London
Source: Personal copy

This is book 21 for Carol’s Cloak and Dagger Challenge.