Sheesh, this review has to begin with one of the worst phrases you can use to describe a book - persist with it, it does get better, but only marginally. The story is poorly paced, certainly requires stronger editing and needs to be significantly shorter. The characterisation is one of the few redeeming features of this book. I found the short sentences reminiscent of reading the work of an 8 year old storyteller and the constant repetition of the name of a character within a paragraph is tiresome. Think Roger Red Hat and you will get the idea (if you are of a certain vintage!)

Not for me, it sounded from the blurb like the sort of book I would enjoy but there are sooooo many writers out there who do it better.

#TheJigsawMan #NetGalley

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC, in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed The Jigsaw Man by Nadine Matheson.
I thought it was a well written, excellent debut novel. The main characters were well-rounded and likeable (apart from Henley’s annoying husband!). Olivier was the perfect baddie. Lots of twists and turns. My only slight disappointment was the ending. Personally, I prefer a resolved ending, with everything neatly tied up. Hopefully there will be a sequel to answer my questions.
I would recommend.

I found this a really enjoyable read!
I'm always a sucker for a good copy cat serial killer book and enjoyed this one very much.
Different body parts found in different locations. What a way for DI Angelica Henley to get back in the saddle after she's been doing desk work after a horrible incident where she was stabbed and subsequently suffered from PTSD. There's an eerie similarity to the case of the Jigsaw Killer that nearly cost her her life. How will she cope with seeing Peter Olivier again and how is he involved? Can or will he help her or will he continue playing mind games?

Some scenes might be a bit much for sensitive readers but I thoroughly enjoyed this read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

What a rollercoaster ride this was. Very well written with constant action and twists and turns. This is not for the faint hearted as it is quite gruesome. While the race is on to catch a serial killer the lead on the case, DI Henley, has her own backstory and her own demons to deal with. I do hope this is the first in a series - I can't wait to read more by this author.
My only criticism is there is too much information in the blurb, which I am glad to say I did not read before I read the book.
***** 4 and a half stars!! *****
Many thanks to Netgalley/Nadine Matheson/HQ for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

A brilliant debut. The back story was built up just enough and the events of the book were engaging and brilliantly written. Hated the abrupt ending but I guess that means there’s hope for a sequel!

My thanks to HQ for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Jigsaw Man’ by Nadine Matheson in exchange for an honest review. I combined reading with listening to its unabridged audiobook edition, narrated by Davine Henry.

Matheson is a criminal lawyer and this is her crime thriller debut, hopefully the first of many as I thought it was extremely good.

The lead is DI Anjelica Henley, who had apprehended the vicious serial killer known as the Jigsaw Man. Peter Oliver received that nickname because he dismembered his victims. Charming... though apparently he actually is quite disarming (no pun intended).

Anjelica has been away from active duty with the Serial Crimes Unit for over two years. This was due to a number of reasons including recovering from injuries inflicted by Oliver, maternity leave, and six months of restricted duties. She is very keen to get back onto the front lines. First day back and her boss, DSI Stephen Pellacia, has sent her to a crime scene in which a collection of body parts has been found on the bank of the Thames.

This quickly proves to be a complicated case, which combined with a number of subplots and back stories for various characters did make the narrative seem rather crowded. I almost felt that it could easily have been spread out over two interlinked novels or with a prequel novella before this.

I took to DI Anjelica Henley very quickly and noted that like many of her fictional male colleagues she has a partner who doesn’t understand her commitment to her work. I also appreciated the understated way in which Nadine Matheson introduced the fact that Henley is a black woman.

Her race is only made overt when she and a fellow detective are visiting the prison where Oliver is incarcerated and a security guards (noted as reading the Daily Mail) huffs on seeing them. They share a look that conveys “an inherent understanding that came from a lifetime of assumptions based on the colour of their skin.”

Overall, ‘The Jigsaw Man’ proved a well-plotted and highly compelling police procedural with some fascinating twists. It kept me glued to my seat. Given the grisly nature of the crimes committed, it is a very dark tale. I also felt that Nadine Matheson did well in creating a strong sense of her main setting, south-east London, including Deptford where she was born and raised.

The novel ends on an intriguing note and I certainly am looking forward to further investigations for DI Henley and her colleagues.

4.5 rounded up to 5.

Highly recommended.

Nadine Mathieson’s The Jigsaw Man is notable for the way in which its characters come to the page fully formed with impressive back stories. It feels as if you are reading the third or fourth in a series and that the author is recapping for you. In different hands this could be clunky and irritating; here it feels assured and impressive.

Set in Deptford in South East London, this police procedural features a diverse set of characters who very clearly have a great deal to offer for future stories. D. I. Anjelica Henley is a driven police officer and wife to Rob, mother to Emma. She has recently returned to active duty in the Serial Crimes Unit after suffering severe injuries at the hands of a violent killer who is now in prison. That case got her promotion, but it also took a huge toll on her mentally and has put a strain on her marriage.

New to the station and to Deptford is DC Salmi Ramouter who was being mentored by Anjelica’s police partner, DS Paul Stanford and who is now to be put under Anjelica’s wing. He’s smart and enthusiastic but also nursing some difficult personal issues which are bound to put a strain on him as he progresses.

Mathieson builds a credible and pacy storyline with its fair share of darkness and grisly moments as a serial killer stalks the streets of Deptford. Is this a copy -cat killer? Someone who is killing in the manner of Peter Oliver, the vicious killer that DI Henley has put away? And if so why are these killings happening? Henley knows she has not made a mistake, the man she put away is the Jigsaw Killer – the one who tried to kill her and almost succeeded, and so what is going on now?

With a healthy complement of grisly body parts including severed heads, Mathieson’s serial killer is a tension driven, fast-paced novel that keeps the reader glued to the pages waiting breathlessly for the next revelation. There are some lovely twists and some great characters all of which adds to the enjoyment. The last quarter of the book felt a little too drawn out for me and lost pace somewhat as a result, but I like these characters and will certainly return for more.

Verdict: If you like your serial killers dark and gory, tension-fuelled and surprising then this book will keep you riveted as you try and work out who is killing and why and then watch open mouthed as the Serial Crimes Unit team place themselves at the heart of the danger. Recommended.

A tense fast paced thriller.

The jigsaw man is in prison for commuting multiple murders however he seems to be carrying out murders again...which means only one thing there must be a copycat killer.

This book is quite graphic in description in parts, it’s easy to read and not easy to put down.
Great read

Peter Oliver is in prison for multiple murders, he was given the nickname of the Jigsaw Man for the crimes he commited. DI Anjelica Henley was involved in his conviction. She us now coming to terms with the investigation and dealing with the aftermath. She is now investigating a copycat serial killer.
This book is quite gruesome and grisly with plenty of twists and turns and is an incredible book which I thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys this genre.
Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for this read in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is a tense, dark, chilling psychological thriller that will make the hairs on your arm stand up and give you goosebumps. It’s well plotted and well thought out leading the reader on a journey into the darkness surrounding a murder hunt. Page by page it hooks you in until you are there on the streets of London hunting alongside DI Henley. The tension builds up, slowly at first but then gallops to the finish line to deliver a great ending. The relationship between Henley and Olivier the Jigsaw Killer, gives you vibes of Lector and Starling which in itself is enough to send the shivers up the spine. A brilliant addition to the crime genre that will keep any crime fan gripped within its pages.

This is a gruesome and dark thriller and it's great!!

I must say though that if you're a bit squeamish and don't like graphic descriptions of murder, then don't read this. If you do or don't mind a bit of gore, then crack on.

The characters are great, the plot is absorbing and complex and the ability of the author to capture the feelings of the various protagonists is excellent.

I absolutely love a good "baddie" and Nadine Matheson has created one such character in Peter Olivier; he is deliciously evil, extremely charming, highly intelligent, an excellent manipulator and everything you would want in a (fictitious) serial killer ... think Ted Bundy crossed with Jeffrey Dahmer and you have a pretty good picture.

This is a gripping read which although starts a little slow, it builds in tension and action as you turn the pages culminating in an exciting finale which definitely leaves the door open for a sequel and the intriguing backstory lends itself to a prequel ... well I would certainly read either or both!

Thank you to HQ (an imprint of HarperCollins UK) and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest and unbiased review.

I haven’t sunk my teeth into an adult thriller for a little while, but this was definitely worth the switch. Matheson is a raw trove of talent and I’m intrigued to read more of her work.

Right from the start, I was hooked. The opening hook of the book is incredibly strong and sets the tone for what’s lying ahead. Pretty quickly, I was knee-deep in gore and invested in Anjelica. I really liked her as a protagonist who is deeply conflicted, flawed and haunted by the events of her past, while still being determined to achieve justice. She’s nowhere near perfect and makes all too human, fallible mistakes that Matheson ensures we see the consequences of. The dynamic between her and Oliver was twisted and unsettling, with that constant sense of danger and death bubbling beneath the surface.

That premise is so tantalising and I was curious to see how Matheson would build on it. Well, she smashed it out of the park. The story follows the familiar police procedural beats, with snippets of some warped perspectives. Matheson manages to keep it feeling fresh and new through extremely compelling writing that keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout. The pacing is immaculate, giving you enough to keep speeding through the pages, but not revealing too many secrets too early on. Similarly, the plotting is smart and Matheso employs shocking twists that drop explosively into the plot and upend everything once more.

I really enjoyed the shifting perspectives and timelines, as it builds this fragmented picture that you can slowly begin to piece together. This all builds to an explosive confrontation, but Matheson still has some tricks and turns up her sleeve. All I know for certain is I definitely need more.

The Jigsaw Man is a darkly enthralling, gory cat and mouse game around London with interesting perspectives and the potential for more explosive stories to follow.

This was a really well written police procedural, the storyline was good and the characters brought to life in what seems a realistic way. I won’t write too much about the storyline as I feel this is the job of the blurb. What I will say is the jigsaw man kills in a pretty brutal way and boy does he clock up a high body count. Overall a really good book that I thoroughly enjoyed.

A thrilling police procedural that will keep you turning the pages. DI Henley is a hard working team leader in the serial crime investigation unit, a small team only dealing with serial offender's rape and murder mostly so no accidental criminals! She juggles a young family, training new recruits and her PTSD but doesn't let all that slow her down on the hunt for a killer.
Olivier, the Jigsaw Man, has been locked up for two and a half years since Henley caught him after murdering 7 people. He is charming, intelligent and sophisticated, yet still a killer, and a little irrate about a copycat using his tag.
The chase is on for Henley and her team to get the copycat before Olivier does.

The characters are believable and likable, Henley, like most cops I imagine, has a bit of a chip on her shoulder but tries to do the right thing to the people close to her. The others in her team are well described real people. The suspects are pretty awful, perfectly unlikeable!

Great plot, with plenty of murders and some quite gruesome details. Very visual descriptions of the area in London and the characters that live there.

Overall a very enjoyable read 5*. Thanks to HQ and NetGalley for the ARC.

A book full of twists and turns that keeps the story flowing.
It could be a little gruesome in parts but that was very much in keeping with the nature of the killings. I liked the characters who you got a real feel for despite the main focus of the book being the murders.
A good read that was in no way predictable although I did have a couple of issues. When I began reading the book I soon felt as though it was book number two in a series. I looked it up but found it was a debut novel. It didn't really impact on the story too much but the frequent references to the past just left me feeling that I was late to the party.
Another small niggle was that there were often changes of scene mid chapter, one moment you are reading about a conversation between two characters and then one of them is somewhere completely different. fine if this is indicated in some way with vocabulary of time or place but often it just came out of the blue and jarred a little.
Despite those two little negatives I found the book enjoyable, readable and well worth reading.

Fast paced thriller - Inspector Anjelica Henley chasing her nemesis serial killer Peter Olivier, the jigsaw man. Only, he is in prison and a copy cat killer is taunting them both. Throw in a rookie detective, a resentful husband and scorching chemistry and unfinished business with her boss...

Stunning debut. A cat and mouse police procedural. DI Anjelica Henley of the Serial Crime Unit is called to the banks of the river Thames when body parts are washed up. As the body count mounts up, Henley is against the clock to catch the notorious Jigsaw Killer. A gruesome and gritty crime thriller.

Well wasn't this just a corker of a book! A brilliant police procedural combined with gruesome murders and an unpredictable serial killer made for a brilliant thriller.

I can't believe this was a debut novel. The writing was phenomenal, the suspense tantalising and there were some richly and deeply developed characters. Plus the police procedural aspect which will always grab my attention.

The author has created a piece of work that encompasses a wide range of characters, including various backgrounds and ethnicities. I loved that our SIO was a woman, too. The location of Deptford was well set too, some serious research or background knowledge has gone in to this book.

My only niggle would be the amount of back story we read, taking us away from the actual killings. However for a longer and more detailed book, I flew through it and will definitely be recommending it. I'll also be looking out for more of Nadine Matheson's books.

If you don’t mind your crime fiction on the dark and gruesome side and you’re after a fast-paced, addictive read then I can highly recommend getting hold of a copy of The Jigsaw Man by Nadine Matheson; I really enjoyed it!

When body parts start appearing around South London it quickly becomes clear to DI Henley and TDC Ramouter that there’s a serial killer on the loose. Bearing some of the hallmarks of murders carried out some years previously by convicted killer Peter Olivier, they begin to suspect a copycat is at work. Against her better judgement Henley goes to Belmarsh to see if Olivier can help her shed any light on the situation and prevent any more deaths. But it seems that Olivier has an agenda of his own…

Henley’s interactions with Olivier are reminiscent of those between Starling and Lecter, and Olivier is almost equally terrifying. Henley is not a character I warmed to particularly quickly but her trainee, Ramouter, I found to be pretty likeable. I immediately became super invested in the police procedural elements, almost fancying myself as an amateur detective (which, let’s face it, I would be terrible at). Needless to say I did not guess any part of what ended up happening.

I thought the plotting and pacing were extremely well-executed and it’s hard to believe that this is Matheson’s debut novel. I’d love to see it turned into a serialised TV drama as I think it would lend itself brilliantly to adaptation.

With thanks to HQ for gifting me a digital copy for review.

Review
A chunky book that throws you into the action.

It kept me hooked and the characters were well developed and I would love to know more.

It's not for the faint hearted and those who are squeamish may struggle.
⭐⭐⭐