It Was Her by Mark Hill

It Was Her is Mark Hill’s second book, a sequel to His First Lie (originally titled The Two O’Clock Boy). I reviewed Mark’s first book under its original tile (see my review here: https://bit.ly/2KGGYig

His First Lie introduced us to his DI Ray Drake and DS Flick Crowley and in particular Drake’s dark and twisted past. It Was Her picks up soon after the events of that novel and the two are still coming to turns with all that has happened. Unfortunately, they don’t have time to process those events and all they’ve been through because London is beset by a series of brutal killings – someone breaking into the homes of the well to do and slaughtering the occupants. Drake and his team are tasked with cracking the case and thus Drake and Crowley’s antagonism has to be put on hold. This isn’t helped by Crowley’s new love interest who seems a little too interested in Drake.

In the UK at least, crime fiction is the most successful literally genre at the moment. Whereas literature as a whole struggle for readers, crime sells. The problem with however is that bookshelves groan under the weight of crime novels and new titles come out all the time. If a writer wants to make their mark, they need to somehow elevate themselves from the crowd. One way to do that is to offer something unique. 

Without divulging spoilers to either of Mark’s novels, they both revolve around issues of adoption and foster care, the abuses that can occur. So far this is Mark’s USP and it has worked well, both books offering compelling and emotionally impactful stories. His characters are well rounded and fascinating. The cop with a troubled past and issues to grapple with can either be a convention or a cliché, depending how well the author writes it. Mark does the former and Drake feels fresh. 

It will be interesting to see whether Mark sticks with the adoption/care theme in future outings (though of course, Drake’s past means it will always be there to some extent) or whether he will branch into other territory now that his characters are established. He could either. There’s certainly territory to be mined in Drake’s past, indeed a subplot in It Was Her focuses on this and is clearly unresolved. Will that continue as a subplot in book three or move to centre stage?

It Was Her is a really good novel, straddling territory between the popular psychological thriller sub-genre and that of a noir police procedural. Mark is a talent to be watched and I look forward to reading his next novel

5 out of 5 stars