I’ve never read Sam Blake before but as she’s coming to my local crime fiction festival Granite Noir this felt as good a time as any to give her a go.
“The Killing Sense” is a strongly atmospheric thriller that takes you to the heart of Paris, blending the city’s romantic allure with a sinister undercurrent. Kate Wilde is a single mother who with a troubled past. Her life takes an unexpected turn when she wins a trip to Paris to study perfume making in a Facebook competition she doesn’t remember entering. Leaving her daughter with her sister she takes what will be her first real trip away since her divorce from her abusive ex-husband. A series of strange events make her concerned someone has access to her apartment and she has a feeling of being watched. The plot thickens as it becomes clear that a serial killer is targeting red-haired women in the city, and could Kate, with her distinctive red hair becomes a target? Who was the charming man she met on the Eurostar, is the competition too good to be true, what has happened to her new friends flatmate, is her ex-husband in Paris?
The book did a really good job of making me feel invested in Kate’s personal journey whilst keeping the story running along with the thriller elements, creating a dual narrative of Kate and her history and feelings and the story of the murders becoming uncovered in Paris. Kate feels like a particularly compelling protagonist, and her resilience and desire to fulfil a decades old promise, coupled with her vulnerability, really helps invest you. The supporting cast, including the enigmatic Daniel Langton, the brilliant and charming Agathe, and the journalist Maxim each add their own layers to the story. One thing I found unusual and interesting was how the author used smells as part of the book, makes sense given the perfume making backdrop but they had a great turn of phrase that really helped me envision in my head the smells the characters were smelling and creating, I don’t normally find myself imagining smells like this often when reading so that was a welcome change.
As I mentioned “The Killing Sense” gallops along and it feels like it tells you everything you need, and more, but never feels over-written as thrillers sometimes are. I think the personality of the city adds to this as it feels like it’s right it’s set in Paris, a city of romance, but also a certain amount of nostalgia, and even an undertone of politics creeping in with the Olympics helping dictate police policy.
Usually I’m much more straight crime fiction than thrillers but I really liked this and I would certainly recommend “The Killing Sense” for people more used to say a police procedural. This is a book for people who enjoy the setting as a character, but importantly the setting never overwhelms it but also feels integral, the characterisations are strong enough for you to care what happens, and the mysteries are solved. I think the plot reveals itself as it goes along so you’re not really guessing whodunnit as you learn as the characters do. Sam Blake will now go on my ever growing list of authors I need to read more from but I will definitely explore further, if you like this kind of book definitely get a copy, even if you don’t but like your fiction on the noir side then this is worth taking a punt on, I don’t think you’ll regret it!