Book review – The Killing of Bobbi Lomax – an assured and well crafted debut novel with a thoughtful and engaging plot

  This novel starts with a bang – literally!  Detectives Sinclair and Alvarez are called to deal with the aftermath of a third bomb blast in twenty four hours.  Mayhem reigns in Abraham City, in the religious heartland of America.  Peter Gudsen is dead, Bobbi Lomax a seemingly random victim blown apart by the second bomb and now Cark Houseman, a dealer in rare books, critically injured and fighting for his life.

Sinclair and Alvarez are digging for a motive and the link between these unconnected victims.  Soon links pop up – Bobbi Lomax’s husband Arnold was involved in a property development deal that collapsed and left many angry creditors.  This seems as better motive than revenge by Arnold Lomax’s bitter ex wife.  All the victims have some connections with “The Faith”, a religious organisation with all the hallmarks of a cult, but so do many people in this small town.  The key seems to be the links between Gudsen, Lomax and Houseman.  Their ties to The Faith are important, but it’s not clear if this is just a red herring.  The detectives have to act quickly and decisively– but the influence of The Faith seems to hamper the investigation, whilst the threat of more bombings and murders are ever present in the background.

Although this is Cal Moriaty’s first novel, she’s delivered a crafted and assured book with a strong and sophisticated plot.  She’s not relied on clichéd themes or settings, but instead chosen and developed a thoughtful story that kept me puzzled and engaged, often feeling I was there with Sinclair and Alvarez in the sun and baking heat of Abraham City, trying to join the dots, somehow cutting through the deception and manipulation to find the motive for the vicious bombings and find out who is actually responsible for these brutal killings.

For aspiring authors – Cal Moriaty attended the Faber Academy.  Faber and Faber offer a range of online and London based courses to support aspiring writers, which worked splendidly for Cal Moriaty, as this novel is the first-ever that Faber has published from their own Academy.

Final verdict – I strongly recommend this book.

Romancrimeblogger