Thanks to netgalley and publishers for arc
I hadn’t realised this is one is a series in ten books but having said that I read as a stand alone book fine but would read others now I have read and enjoyed this one so much. It is a detective story this time following two undercover officers Josh and Maeve as they try to pick their way through crime whilst appearing to be a young in love couple .
Bit of slow start having said that as author sets scene with all characters but once that is done there are three plot lines to follow and each one speeds up pretty rapidly
One is the one they are in the close to follow where young men are suspected of being trafficked via a farm in another area they are to watch a mother and son and report back findings
Meanwhile an elderly neighbour becomes distressed and tells female police officer Maeve that there is a dangerous man after girls but she is discovered in a nearby lake dead presumed to have wandered off
The final case is off a rich doctor found dead draped across his own car at the hospital and no one knows why? Everyone speaks so highly of him who would want him dead?

Absolutely brilliant, loved it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an advance copy, I will definitely be recommending.

Odd one this as it started very slow but did build up after some time; it also couldn't really make its mind up as to whether it was a detective story or a romance. As number 10 in the series I assume that I've missed rather a lot of character development which might have mitigated some of the oddities. Essentially the two detectives, Maeve and her boss Josh, pretend to be life partners and stake-out an area pretending to be dog-sitters. The area has some troubling disappearance, and death, of vulnerable people. The area is, on the face of it, very middle class, gardens, coffee mornings and the like but there are really odd characters. Josh and Maeve - too much about their attraction to each other I couldn't make up my mind - get on with it or grow up and remember your wife. Sorry. Another one where it was ok but forgettable after a short while. Given where we are with Maeve/Josh I'm thinking that this would spoil any remote sense of will they/won't they if I went back to previous stories; the writing was ok and if the detecting in previous stories took more of a front seat I might go back. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

Loved it ! Fast paced and gripping. Well written characters with many twists and turns. Would definitely recommend.

This is a nice fast paced read where the neighbours aren't exactly who they say they are. There were something wonderful twists and turns in this one and the plot was executed beautifully. Recommend giving this one a read! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an e-arc.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review. I only realised as I was about to start reading this book that it is book 10 of a series! I was worried that I would not be able to follow the story properly or that perhaps I was missing out by not having read the previous books but I couldn’t have been more wrong. I absolutely loved it and really want to read the rest of the series now. I don’t feel as though I missed anything and it can definitely be read as a standalone novel. It was very fast paced and I was desperate to find out who the culprit was! I didn’t guess correctly, which is a sign of a good book in my opinion, I will be on the lookout for the rest of the series now that’s for sure. A big 5 stars from me.

The Close - Jane Casey

Out Now

Thank you to @netgalley @harpercollinsire @harpercollinsuk for the ARC of this book. I had a total reading slump going on so was late getting to it and purchased the audible to go along with the read which was spot on 👌

The tenth book in the Maeve Kerrigan series. DS Maeve Kerrigan is investigating the untimely murder of Dr Hassan Davoud who found by his next door neighbour slumped in his car at the hospital car park. Kerrigan although interested in the case is missing her spark after just coming out of a relationship that ended badly. She is then asked to go undercover with her colleague DI Josh Derwent as a couple who are dog sitting in order to investigate a crime ring who are taking advantage of young vulnerable men with special needs. Whilst living together in Jelicoe Close they uncover another criminal, which had me guessing right up until the end. So basically it's a mystery inside a mystery inside a mystery 😂

Also I'll give it an extra star for having my unusual surname mentioned numerous times throughout The "Holmwood" 😂

This is my first time to read a book by Jane Casey and won't be my last. I'm already a few chapters into The Burning #1 Maeve Kerrigan book.

Jane Casey hasn’t done me wrong yet and The Close was no exception. It’s the tenth book in the DS Maeve Kerrigan series. While I haven’t read all the books in the series, nor was what I read in order, I really feel I didn’t have to. Yes, it’s good to get a better overview of Maeve’s background and progression as a character, but the author gives so much to the characters within each individual book, that you really feel them evolve anyway. And Maeve is such a wonderful character. Brave and strong yet vulnerable, making her all the more likeable. I feel the author also uses The Close to peel back some of Josh’s layers, and I certainly took to him a lot more in this book.

I’m usually not a huge fan of police dramas but there is something about The Close (and the other books in this series) that just appeal to me. I think it’s the balance between the police investigation and the actual plot. While we get the ins and outs of the investigation, we also get to be right inside the evolving crime, and even get some chapters told directly by the perpetrator. I feel this approach helps me become more connected with the overall story, and more characters than just the police force.

I really enjoyed The Close. It had such an engaging plot and it really strengthened my connection with Maeve.

What a fantastic book to read this was. Really gripping, so much so you didn't want to put the book down until you'd finished it - my sign that it is a great book! Good characters you could get into and some nice twists and turns in the storylines to keep you gripped. Highly recommended!

Another saga for Maeve Kerrigan but this time she moves into Jellicoe Close, a seemingly benign surburb where she and Derwent pose as the perfect couple. However deception is everywhere as the friendly neighbours are not quite what they seem. A fast paced thriller with twists and turns and the constant tension between The two detectives make this a gripping read.

I read Jane Casey standalone The Killing Kind last year and loved it so was intrigued to read something else that she had written.

A doctor's body Is discovered in the hospital car park were he works Maeve begins the investigation but Is c!early struggling with the task .It seems that Maeve has lost her mojo and her focus and drive appears to be lacking in terms of her professional career after 24 hours on the case Maeve is tasked with going on an undercover operation to Jellicoe Close with Josh to investigate the death of a brother of a local politician. So far so good then it all went pear shaped.

I understand that this is a well established series with the character of Maeve Kerrigan being book ten so I was missing a lot of history so maybe this had something to do with my confusion and enjoyment of the story as the book just seemed to be taken over with the relationship between Meave and Josh and the
crime element was lost and it just went flat sorry not one for me.

Like a few other reviewers, I have not read any of the previous books in the Maeve and Derwent series, and felt at a distinct disadvantage as a result. I have however read previous titles by Jane Casey and really enjoyed them.
This one was slow and ponderous, with way too much unnecessary description, making it a very long book. It didn’t grab - or hold my attention, and I skim read much of it. A slow burn, I would describe it as. It was a bit of an disappointment for me, I’m sorry to say. If I had read the earlier books in the series, I’m sure I would have enjoyed this more.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.

I really enjoyed this fast paced page turner.
Crime thriller come romance novel, there’s plenty to keep you interested amongst the pages. So engaging!
I loved the main characters of Maeve and Josh and I enjoyed the playfulness the author brought to an otherwise very serious read.
Having lived in a close like this I can very much believe a lot of the people watching and nosiness that the author included in the book. Everyone knows everyone’s business on a street like that - the WhatsApp group in particular made me chuckle. Until I lived on a dead end street I never realised it was a thing - it brought a lot of memories back - fortunately though none that included murder!
I really enjoyed the mysteries although I do have to say I did guess them - but they were good fun to read. My only slight criticism is that there were a few too many characters to keep up with at times. It’d make a great tv series!

I love Jane Casey's novels and this is no exception.
Maeve and Josh are working undercover -(dogsitting) in a delightful close the neighbours are very friendly, some maybe a bit too friendly!! The trouble is both of them have got their own problems going on as well, Maeve just coming out of an abusive relationship and Josh just seems unhappy. The chemistry between them crackles off the pages, a real will they or won't they? Not content with one case to try and solve (all be it a cold one) they end up in the middle of another one as well. Just how well do these neighbours know one another? Would they cover for each other? Who has the most to hide? And how much can Maeve and Josh help without revealing who they really are?

Highly recommended this novel and can't wait for the next Maeve and Josh instalment to come out. Many thanks NetGalley for letting me read this.

DI Josh Derwent and DS Maeve Kerrigan go undercover as a couple in Jellicoe Close to keep a house under surveillance as there is no other way. The house they are in has a dog that needs looking after while the owner is away so it will need regular walking as well. They just need to prepare themselves to be there for some weeks to get the intel they need as it won’t just happen overnight. The lady they are interested in is called Judy Thwaites and she lives at 7, Jellicoe Close. Four men have been known to have gone to Judy’s and not been seen again. Josh and Maeve just need to integrate into the community of the close to find out the goings on and let the others think they are a couple.


Josh and Maeve settle into the house and work from home. They slowly get to know the neighbours and keep up surveillance on Judy’s, with not much going on. One night, the dog hears someone out the back of the house so Josh takes off chasing them but comes back as he doesn’t find anything.


Who would have been looking in their back window? Did they mean to harm them? Why run off?

I really enjoyed reading this book, although it was different to the normal Josh and Maeve ones. The author wrote a really good story with a great plot and some excellent descriptions. I like both Maeve and Josh, this book was a bit more about their relationship undercover but it put their friendship under strain. It will be interesting to see how the next book will cope with that. Looking forward to the next book already.

Maeve and Josh are sent away uncover. They are to play a loving couple dog sitting as they have the neighbourhood under surveillance. Both are struggling with their own issues but are ever professionals and are soon fitting in to neighbourhood. There are lots of twists along the way as more than one case ends up in their lap. I look forward to more from Maeve and Josh soon hopefully

The Close’ is the tenth book in the DS Maeve Kerrigan series by Jane Casey.

At first glance, Jellicoe Close seems to be a perfect suburban street – well-kept houses with pristine lawns, neighbours chatting over garden fences, children playing together. But there are dark secrets behind the neat front doors, hidden dangers that include a ruthless criminal who will stop at nothing. It’s up to DS Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent to uncover the truth. Posing as a couple, they move into the Close, blurring the lines between professional and personal as never before. And while Maeve and Josh try to gather the evidence they need, they have no idea of the danger they face – because someone in Jellicoe Close has murder on their mind.

Even though this is the tenth book in the series, this is only the second or third book that I’ve read. And all the time, I intend to read more in the Maeve Kerrigan series.

The story is primarily seen through the narrative of Maeve, who’s investigating two cases, a murder of a doctor and then has been chosen to work undercover in a small estate when a man is found dead in suspicious circumstances. She has to work to her colleague with Josh and pretend that they’re in a relationship, which Maeve is struggling with after in an abusive relationship. Josh and Maeve have a complex relationship, their friends and colleagues, but there’s an obvious sexual chemistry between them that sizzles off the pages.

There’s also an inclusion of the perspective of the murderer and this made the story interesting, as I found myself trying to find out the murderer.

I really enjoyed seeing Maeve in a more relaxed role pretending to be a fluffier version of herself. Her interactions with people are softer in comparison to the harder version of herself with her guard up.

It’s quite witty in parts and this distracts from the darker moments in the story. As the story is a series, there are references to previous books and situations but has this just made me more keen to read the rest of the series.

‘The Close’ is a thrilling police procedural book that’s packed with drama, twists, suspicious characters that was gripping from the first sentence.

You can buy ‘The Close’ from Amazon and is available to buy from good bookshops.

There’s nothing worse than feeling like you’ve walked in on someone when they’re in the middle of a conversation and it continues with you desperately trying to get clues about what’s going on. Reading the book felt like that at times…but it is completely my fault for not having read any of the other books in the series.
The Close works perfectly well as a stand-alone story, but I can see that elements of the inter-character relationships would make more sense if you knew the background. That said, it’s an entertaining story even though there isn’t a great deal happening for large parts of the book.
As part of an investigation Maeve and Josh go undercover, posing as partners who are dog/house sitting for a friend. They are intent on finding out who on Jellicoe Close knows about the suspicious disappearances of vulnerable adults. Unfortunately, during the course of their investigation another resident is murdered and it becomes clear that someone has a vested interest in keeping things hidden.
I’m pleased I’d guessed the identity of our mystery character. The other strands were less apparent, but I enjoyed wondering just what I’d missed with this pair and have gone and bought book 1.

The Close

At first glance, Jellicoe Close seems to be a perfect suburban street – well-kept houses with pristine lawns, neighbours chatting over garden fences, children playing together.

But there are dark secrets behind the neat front doors, hidden dangers that include a ruthless criminal who will stop at nothing.

This book had me hooked from the start. I'm not always a fan of crime thrillers, but Jane Casey does them so well ! I am shipping the relationship between Maeve and Josh so much ! I think the relationship tension was perfectly woven into the story without overpowering the fact that it's a crime thriller. Can't wait for the next book !

Thank you to Netgalley, Harper Collins UK, and Jane Casey for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Jane Casey never fails to deliver a good read and especially when Maeve and Josh are involved. If I have to be totally honest ( and that is what I agreed with Netgalley I would always be in my reviews) this wasn’t my favourite book by the author as the characters in The Close took a while to sort themselves out in my head so that did take some of the enjoyment away but I still found it a great story.
Not giving any secrets away but I have very strong views on what that last text message that Josh received should say so if the author needs any ideas on how the next book could start I’m happy to share.