The Ladykiller was the first and best book I have read by Martina Cole. Nothing of hers has come close since reading it in the 90's. With Martina's books you know pretty much what you're going to get each time - hard hitting stories about the London underworld - and after reading quite a few over the years I did become a bit bored as they all started to become too familiar. I received Hard Girls as a gift shortly after it was released in hardback and it'd been sat on my bookshelf until I finally picked it up to read last week. Unbeknown to me the two characters I loved from The Ladykiller return in this book and I was transported back to serial killings and the relationship between DCI Kate Burrows and her partner and underworld boss Patrick Kelly. As with the first book I was loath to put it down. I had forgotten how Martina has the ability to grab you almost immediately with her down to earth, gritty writing style and what with the two familiar characters returning, I loved it. The now semi retired Kate Burrows is working at Grantley police station as a consultant. DCI Annie Carr looks up to Kate and aspires to be just like her: respected by her colleagues as the one who put away The Grantley Ripper. Annie has been waiting for her big break when suddenly a series of brutal murders take place. High class prostitutes are being killed and mutilated beyond recognition. Kate has been brought in to help Annie in her quest to catch the murderer. Along with the murder investigation we get a real insight into the relationship between Kate and Patrick. The couple got together during Kate's investigation into the Grantley Ripper murders, during which, Patrick's own daughter Mandy fell victim. Patrick had always been well known to the police as being one of the most notorious but highly respected bosses of the underworld. Now, much older and having been tamed by Kate over the years, Patrick feels he is ready to retire and hand most of his empire over to his trusted young protegé Danny. However with the latest spate of murders taking place, he is drawn into the investigation due to being co-owner of the flats that the murdered prostitutes have been using to work from and where their bodies have been found. Kate and Patrick's relationship suffers as a result and I enjoyed this part of the story line probably more than the whodunit. Being the wrong side of 40 myself, I could really relate to this - not a fluffy love story -and it is portrayed in a realistic way with both of them being aware they're not getting any younger. After being in a long term, loving relationship for many years their future together is questioned and they both look at the prospect of living their lives apart. I have docked a point as, early on, (and without giving anything away) I sussed out that this wasn't the sort of murderer the police thought and about half way through, I guessed the identity of the killer. All in all though it was a great read and I've grabbed myself a copy of Broken from a local charity shop which I found out is the second of Martina's books which also features Kate and Patrick. In this book we see the return of old favourite Kate Burrows, a character from earlier books, The Ladykiller and Broken. She’s still living with Patrick Kelly although due to his owning the properties where the girls are being killed as a silent partner causes them to split up. The book does focus a lot on their relationship, a bit too much at times, it got kind of repetitive, if Cole had reduced this it would have made a much better book.Told in the third person narrative, the dialect used takes you straight to the streets of East End London. If a little old fashioned by now, surely the slang used has changed over the last 6- 8 years, in fact I know it has.Nice short chapters made this book easy to fly through, one thing I love about books like this, so easy to read, can pick it up at anytime. Not too many characters to get confused.I did like this book, Cole writing of late has been quite sub standard but this book proves she’s back on form. If you haven’t enjoyed Cole’s books lately then give this one a go, you won’t be disappointed.
What do You think about Hard Girls (2009)?
loved it, great characters and good storyline
—ann
