DCS Frankie Sheehan is experiencing a crisis of confidence – having become wary of the instincts that have led her face-to-face with a twisted killer and brought those she loves into direct jeopardy.
She is summoned to the rural Wicklow mountains, where local mother of two, Debbie Nugent, has been reported missing. A bloody crime scene is discovered at Debbie’s home, yet no body. Not only is foul play suspected, but Debbie’s daughter, Margot, has been living with the scene for three days.
Aware her team cannot convict Margot on appearances alone, Sheehan launches a full investigation into Debbie Nugent’s life. And, before long, the discrepancies within Debbie’s disappearance suggest that some families are built on dangerous deceptions, with ultimately murderous consequences.
Olivia Kiernan is an Irish writer. In a previous life, she completed a diploma in anatomy and physiology then a BSc in Chiropractic before she succumbed to the creative itch and embarked on an MA in Creative writing. In 2015, she began writing PLAY DEAD FOR ME (formerly titled Too Close to Breathe), a crime thriller that was published in 2018 and features Dublin detective, Frankie Sheehan. THE KILLER IN ME and IF LOOKS COULD KILL followed soon after. The fourth in the series THE MURDER BOX publishes on July 22nd 2021.
This is the third book in the Frankie Sheehan series, but I haven’t read any of the others and this works fine as a standalone book.
DCS Frankie Sheehan and her trusted sidekick, Baz, investigate the disappearance of Debbie Nugent. Set in rural Ireland, the descriptions of the local scenery are definitely worth a mention, you can easily picture where the events would take place and the relevance of the other houses in relation to Debbie’s which helps to set the scene and events that follow.
This has a great plot. The answer to what happened to Debbie seems quite obvious to begin with, she must definitely be dead for a start and who did it? Most likely Frankie’s first thought, the daughter who has lived with the murder scene for so long… definitely suspicious! Sheehan is relentless with finding her supporting evidence, but, trusting her instincts, all is not what it seems.
Kieran does an excellent job of bringing us along with the thoughts of the investigators and the investigation with its various twists and turns. Nothing is obvious but not shocking either. This has a good solid plot that could easily be based in the real world instead of fiction.
The characters are strong and well developed. I particularly enjoyed the strong lead woman, Frankie. The book demonstrates how well Frankie handles being in a male-dominated police force which is interesting to see, she is intelligent and strong in her field but also kind and loyal. There are other secondary characters which are mostly just as well developed though a couple would have been nice to hear a little more about, especially towards the end.
I enjoyed the opening scenes the most…quite a different start to most books and quite shocking. A man enters a busy park in the middle of Dublin and shoots himself. There is no explanation for this, and it feels a bit remote until the thread is picked up and makes perfect sense towards the end of the book when you have almost forgotten about it even happening.
Overall a great book and I am looking forward to more in the series and finding some time to go back and read the two before!
Thanks to the Author, Publisher and Netgalley for an Advanced Review Copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review.
| Title | If Looks Could Kill |
| Author | Olivia Kiernan |
| Series | DCS Frankie Sheenan 3 |
| Format | eARC |
| Page Count | 320 Pages |
| Genre | Mystery & Thrillers |
| Publisher | Riverrun |
| Release Date | 1st April 2021 |
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