Matt has Seven Days To Die (review)

Wednesday, January 25, 2023

Matt has Seven Days To Die (review)

Seven Days To Die

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@cleric20)

“The wine began to seep effortlessly into Isabel’s blood stream, its numbing effect finally allowing a wave of relaxation to take hold. Leaning back in the soft leather armchair, she glanced around Anthony’s living room. It was elegant and stylish, nothing cheap or out of place. She could instantly tell he must be doing well for himself…”

The world (and most charity shops) are increasingly full of Detective-em-up books and yet here is another to add to the pile… But wait, before you groan – this is a cut above your average crime novel and certainly one worth seeking out if you’re a fan of the macabre serial killer genre. Whilst initially I was hoping this was a novelization of the great zombie survival PlayStation game Seven Days To Die - finding that it's a rare crime banger makes up for it.

Yes, what makes Seven Days To Die stand out is the expert craft of author Michelle Kidd who obviously has a delightfully sick mind!

This is the tale of DI Jack MacIntosh who is a great lead in this twisty thriller, set against a brutal killer who strangles young women and leaves their bodies strewn across London’s parks. A kinky killer who leaves his next victim’s shoe beside the body of his last one. Detective MacIntosh has seven days to find the truth.

It begins with the body of a young woman being discovered in Hyde Park - wearing only one shoe and near her a black stiletto, but this doesn’t belong to the victim.

What becomes apparent is the killer is taunting his pursuers – as two days later, another young woman is found strangled in nearby Green Park. Wearing just one shoe — you guessed it - the matching stiletto. And nearby is a low-heeled court shoe – potentially belonging to the next victim!

Cue a race against time that will have you tearing through the book to find out if the killer can be identified and caught – or is London in for a long haul of shoeless victims?

Jack MacIntosh is the sort of cop you’ll get along with straight away if you’re into crime books – a decent bloke trying to do the right thing but struggling with demons of his own too, not adverse to getting into scrapes with his superiors, etc... Kidd writes with an easy descriptive style and her world feels believable – packed with nice touches that could come across as cliches in less capable hands but here add to the flavour of the piece.

I’d certainly like to see DI MacIntosh get a TV show of his own one day!!

The mind behind the crimes

Who is Michelle Kidd?

Michelle Kidd is a crime fiction author best known for the DI Jack MacIntosh and DI Nicki Hardcastle series. Michelle qualified as a legal executive in the early 1990s, spending ten years practicing civil and criminal litigation.

But the dream to write was never far from her mind and in 2008 she began writing the first book in what would later become the DI Jack MacIntosh series.

Michelle now works full-time for the NHS and lives in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

She enjoys reading, wine, and cats — not necessarily in that order.

Out of a potential 5 - you have to go with a Darkmatters:

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(5 - Detective-em-up that delivers the goods)