I have to commence this review with a disclaimer: Katherine Howell is a beloved friend of mine with whom I regularly share the ups and downs of being a writer, discuss politics, movies, books and the kind of things friends do – including the roller-coaster journey she went on writing this book. She even gives me a beautiful mention in her acknowledgements. Imagine my delight when I received my copy. I could not wait to read the published version of a tale that had wrung so much creative energy out of my talented friend.

Now, part of me didn’t want to admit to my friendship with Katherine – and you know why? I worried that it might colour the review I’m about to write – that reading it, others might think, well, she would say that, wouldn’t she, Katherine is a friend. The truth is, I don’t write reviews that don’t reflect how I feel about the book and the experience of reading it. I am much too professional for that and I would rather not write a word than be dishonest. That Deserving Death happens to be one of the best crime books I’ve read in a while has nothing to do with my friendship with the writer, but it does make me very, very proud that my mate wrote such a sensational novel.

Deserving Death is the latest in the hugely popular Ella Marconi detective series and, like the others (and what makes this series unique), is each book also has a principal protagonist, a paramedic (or two or three) and describes the inter-relationships between police and emergency services as well as what occurs in the daily and personal grind of our girls and boys in blue/white. In this book, paramedics feature more strongly than usual, occupying many different roles.

The story opens with the second brutal murder of a female paramedic in four weeks. Discovered by two colleagues, Carly and Tessa, the investigation of the woman’s death is handed to Ella Marconi and Murray Shakespeare who realise very quickly that not only are there connections between this death and the earlier one, but various witnesses and suspects linked to the women and thus the crimes are hiding the truth.

This is something Carly also recognises and, after being frustrated, hurt and confused by the blatant lies she’s being told – and by those she thought she knew and trusted – decides to take matters into her own hands, sacrificing friendship, professional and even personal relationships in the process. But as she steers close to discovering the truth of what’s being hidden and the identity of the killer, little does she suspect that she may yet be forced to make the greatest sacrifice of all…

Relationships are depicted as complex and oft-times fragile things in this novel. Just when you think you know a person, or their motivation, something will emerge or enter a conversation and change everything. I loved the way Katherine built the various connections – from Carly and Tessa’s professional bonds, to those they have with their boss, Mark Vardy, and the dead woman, to the deeper, more complicated ones that dominate their personal lives.

Running parallel to the investigation and the various liaisons and secrets it uncovers, are those that entangle and complicate the personal relationships in the book. One of the most significant secrets, and which is beautifully rendered, is the “coming out” of Carly’s currently clandestine relationship with Linsey. Forced to hide their love because of how Linsey’s family and, at the macrocosmic level society might judge them, the stronger Carly gently urges and supports her girlfriend to find the courage to be who and what she really is, not the version her parents want and which gives lie to her feelings. In a sense, this sensitively drawn (and very topical) plot-line cleverly mirrors others in the book as well.

Hidden from view are the feelings and emotions that draw people together and tear them apart, whether it be Carly’s love for Linsey and Linsey’s fear of what knowledge of her sexuality will do to her family, or the dreadful reality of what brought Ella and Callum together in the first place and which they tip-toe around, loathe to discuss lest it erupt into their present and destroy the fragile relationship they’re building.  Then, there’s the bond between Tessa and her mother – who literally prefers to dwell in the shadows, refusing to face what she’s become – and how you can hate what someone does but still love them unconditionally as well.

Functional and dysfunctional relationships abound in this book, as do secrets, falsehoods and the reasons they exist and why. Sometimes, it’s safer to dissemble – for self-preservation, to protect those you care about, or because fear renders you inert and silent. But then there are also the secrets evil people and/or deeds forces one to keep and how these can commit even a good person to a path that’s fatally destructive.

I could not put this book down. I laughed, I cried, I gasped in horror and genuine fright. By the time I’d finished, I knew I’d been in the hands of a masterful storyteller from whose clever and careful hands I did not want to be released.

If you enjoy great crime stories and one with real heart, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.