Review: Mask of Betrayal

A woman is found murdered in Kate Creech’s bath. Naturally, the body is automatically thought to be that of Kate, but as it is so decomposed, it is impossible to tell. However, when it turns out that Kate is alive, the hunt is on to find out who the body is and who killed her. Kate suspects that the murderer is someone from her own social circle and starts her own investigation, but finds DI John Bright dogging her at every turn.

Whilst I enjoyed reading ‘Mask Of Betrayal’, the main problem that I had with it was the attitude of the main character, Kate Creech. Upon being asked to give the police the identities of everyone who might have had keys to her house, she basically refuses, saying that she does not want to have the police interfering in their lives, even though this is a murder investigation. Had I found a dead woman in my bath, I would be very happy to help the police in every way possible.

This reminded me of another book I had read, where the chief protagonist refuses to help the FBI, simply because they are the FBI. It seemed obstructive and unnecessary to me. Had Creech simply helped John Bright, the novel would not have needed to take such a circuitous route to get to the truth. Of course, her refusal is nothing but a plot device, allowing Creech to travel around the country piecing together the puzzle with Bright following her.

Other than this, I enjoyed the novel. It took a long time to work out what was driving Bright and why he was behaving the way he was, but as the novel is part of a series, this is undoubtedly explained elsewhere. O’ Brien has created a complex and deep character here and there is a lot of potential for development in future novels. The book is well written and her theatre and TV work has obviously helped her to create individual voices and personalities for her characters.

Overall, this is a good police procedural and worth a read, if you can get past the initial annoyance of the somewhat bizarre behaviour of Creech.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Luke Croll - RAM

Book Review: Mask of Betrayal