The Binding Room
Ratings6
Average rating4.6
15
Ratings6
Average rating4.6
Detective Anjelica Henley confronts a series of ritualistic murders in this heart-pounding thriller about race, power and the corrupt institutions that threaten us When Detective Anjelica Henley is called to investigate the murder of a popular preacher in his own church, she discovers a second victim, tortured and tied to a bed in an upstairs room. He is alive, but barely, and his body shows signs of a dark religious ritual. With a revolving list of suspects and the media spotlight firmly on her, Henley is left with more questions than answers as she attempts to untangle both crimes. But when another body appears, the case takes on a new urgency. Unless she can apprehend the killer, the next victim may just be Henley herself. Drawing on her experiences as a criminal attorney, Nadine Matheson deftly explores issues of race, class and justice through an action-packed story that will hold you captive until the last terrifying page.
Reviews with the most likes.
What an absolute thriller! Despite the grizzly murders, I thoroughly enjoyed this!
I went into this not having read the first book in the series, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Having read this, I feel like I've done myself a disservice by not having read the first book despite it being on my TBR list for a while!
I loved DI Henley and her team and will look forward to reading more books involving them.
This was brilliantly written and it had me hooked from start to finish.
Thank you to PH and Nadine Matheson for the chance to read this book.
I highly recommend it!
Sweet mother of pearl, WHAT A RIDE.
The Binding Room is a dark, twisty, compelling police procedural, the second in Nadine Matheson's Inspector Anjelica Henley series. I haven't read the first, but I don't feel like my reading of this one suffered for it.
DI Anjelica Henley has a lot on her plate. She's dealing with the loss of a loved one, the fallout from an affair with her superior, and PTSD from her near-death experience at the hands of a suspect on a previous investigation. But all that has to take a back seat when a young woman goes to her job cleaning a church and finds the pastor, ostensibly a respected pillar of the community, brutally murdered. The SCU is called in to investigate. But when another person is found bound and clearly subjected to torture in a hidden room of the church, the SCU must also consider whether the pastor was victimizer as well as victim.
First, let me say that this isn't a book for the faint of heart. It deals with some fairly gory descriptions of injuries, and it covers the topics of abuse and mental health in a way that might be unsettling or upsetting for some. It also portrays an ostensibly Christian church in a less than flattering light.
But if those things don't put you off reading, this is a nail-biter of a story. This isn't just one murder, it's several, and the SCU has to figure out how they all tie together. A horrifying picture unfolds of unthinkable acts committed under the guise of exorcisms. But worse still, one of the victims had recently given birth. Where is her baby? In the hands of a killer?
Matheson's background in the criminal arena shines through. You don't write this kind of story this well without having some personal experience in the matter. With the way the SCU was written, though, as a team who have each other's backs even when they're giving each other good-natured grief, I would have pegged her for a prosecutor (I was one in a former work incarnation). She paints a thorough picture of police procedure and the criminal justice system.
The story is set in London, and there are a few terms and acronyms that might not be familiar to someone who hasn't operated within the UK legal system. I was able to gather the meaning of those from context pretty well, and the jargon didn't keep me from reading at speed and well past my bedtime.
The Binding Room is a five-star read for me. Dark, twisty, and absolutely enthralling. I look forward to reading more from Nadine Matheson!
While initially intriguing the novel devolves into common tropes and the reveal at the end was a bit lack luster.
This book is just as good as it's debut. I love the character development of Anjelica Henley, Ramouter and the team. I love that the book acknowledged and addressed things that happened in the first book. The book also dealt really strongly with the aftermath of trauma and police politics and racism and conflict within the police, which I enjoyed.
This book is a book that can stand on its own and I really loved the inventive plot. The author mentions in her acknowledgment page that she proposed this idea as a pastor is killed in his church and he has a member of the congregation who he has locked up in the church who is found and they believe he been having an exorcism? And it's so cleverly crafted from there! This isn't a gimmicky plot with no substance. Matheson knows how to layer together plot, character development, several loose ends and tie them up satisfyingly at the end. Matheson is one to watch in the thriller genre and I absolutely loved this latest installment. I can't wait to read more in this series. I love how Henley is faulted and passionate and dedicated to her team and she feels so authentic and real. I also personally want to thank HQ for gifting me a ebook earlier readers copy due to my positive review of the first book. I squealed for joy when I got the email!!
Thanks to the author Nadine Matheson, HQ and Netgalley for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.
