Vengeance in Mind

Karen Taylor #4

by N.J. Cooper

Sir Dan Blackwater, well known businessman and philanthropist is found dead one morning in his home on the Isle of Wight. Pinned to the kitchen table with butcher's knives, he has been castrated in what looks like a gruesome act of revenge.
The only other person on the scene is his own PA, Sheena. But when DCI Charlie Trench brings her in for questioning, he discovers that she can't remember a thing about the events of last night - the shock seems to have caused her to lose her memory.
Unsure whether to believe Sheena's story, Trench calls in forensic psychologist Karen Taylor to help unblock Sheena's memory. But as Karen begins her investigation, she will discover there is much more to the Blackwaters than ever met the public eye. And as she lifts the lid on a truly scandalous history, she will put herself in more danger than she could possibly imagine.

Genres: Crime

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

A pseudonym used by Natasha Cooper

Reviews

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

In terms of building suspense, creating a page-turning novel, this is excellent. Unfortunately I found the dialogue less than convincing and the characters much of the time to be clichés wearing coloured cashmere, designer-labelled clothes and with an extreme sensitivity to perfumes, which enabled them to smell, analyse and name what several characters were wearing.
Karen's ability to seize slight facts,make deductions therefrom, and then hare off in the most foolhardy direction is one that is expected and acceptable to some degree in most thrillers - she overdid it slightly.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: Sir Dan Blackwater, businessman and philanthropist is found dead. DCI Charlie Trench finds that Blackwater's PA has lost her memory.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Over all I enjoyed the story and was satisfied with the ending, but there were some slightly predictable moments and very flawed characters!
I loved the setting being my home and actually recognising the places mentioned though.

[Del · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the fourth in N J Cooper's (Natasha Cooper) series but it's the first book by the author that I've read.

Sir Dan Blackwater is found dead in his home while his wife is in another country. Evidence points to his mistress as the killer but not everything is as it appears. It's up to Forensic psychologist Karen Taylor to unravel the mystery.

I look forward to reading another story by this author.

[Nick Davies · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh dear, what a shame. This had the elements of a decent crime thriller - the plot was quite good, some of the setting was well-described, and NJ Cooper is obviously capable of writing well (sections of the book were really good, which is what elevated it from a dreaded one star rating in my eyes).

But no. I didn't enjoy it. I wonder whether I wasn't the target audience, and whether it was written for female readers wanting a little more romance and a lot more irrelevant descriptions of clothing, jewellery and perfume. The female heroine was unconvincing - either pathetically overanalysing every discussion with a male character to see whether they hated or loved or disrespected her, or she was some kind of psychologist wonder-women pulling solutions from thin air in the nick of time. This is the main reason the book fell down, though there were also plenty of little niggles (characters with too-similar names, people nipping back and forth from the IOW to Southampton with little or no indication that this would take lots of time in waiting for and travelling on boats, and some irrelevant anecdotes which it just felt like the author wanted to squeeze in with no reason) all of which made me dislike this book the more I read, and find the ending more 'oh, how convenient' than 'cleverly plotted'.

I saw that this was nominated for a Crime Writers' Association 'Gold Dagger' award. I can see why it didn't win, and wonder why it was shortlisted.

[Petergriffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first N J Cooper I've read and certainly not disappointed. Early days yet and sure it deserves a better rating that I've given. Great interaction between characters . . . Keeps you wondering where it's going to go. That was at page 55 . . . and finishing the book I can still only give a 3 as it just didn't come up trumps. A very reasonable read though.

[Simon Fenwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the fourth in N J Cooper's series featuring forensic psychologist Karen Taylor. On the whole, I have found the series very good reads with good plots. Hopefully the series will continue. it will be interesting to get hold of the author's other two series which were written under the name of Natasha Cooper.

[ah li · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 actually. my first N. J. Cooper book and I thought the interaction between Karen and Charlie was really fabulous and fantastic storyline although I really didn't really caught the ending that well.

[Isabelle Grey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrific read!

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pacy novel as you'd expect from this author. Not over-literary, but a good read

[Freddey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow and difficult to get into at first but overall it was a good read and I really enjoyed it as it picked up