Prey by Vanda Symon

On her first day back from maternity leave, Detective Sam Shephard is thrown straight into a cold-case investigation – the unsolved murder of a highly respected Anglican Priest in Dunedin.

The case has been a thorn in the side of the Police hierarchy, and for her boss it’s personal. With all the witness testimony painting a picture of a dedicated church and family man, what possible motive could there have been for his murder?

But when Sam starts digging deeper into the case, it becomes apparent that someone wants the sins of the past to remain hidden. And when a new potential witness to the crime is found brutally murdered, there is pressure from all quarters to solve the case before anyone else falls prey.

But is it already too late...?

About the author

Vanda Symon is a crime writer from Dunedin, New Zealand, and the President of the New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa. The Sam Shephard series, which includes Overkill, The Ringmaster, Containment, Bound and Expectant, hit number one on the New Zealand bestseller list, and has also been shortlisted for the Ngaio Marsh Award. Overkill was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger and Bound and Expectant have been nominated for USA Barry Awards. All five books have been digital bestsellers, and are in production for the screen. She is also the author of the standalone thriller Faceless, and lives in Dunedin with her family.

Review

‘Prey’ is a heartfelt return to the world of Sam Shepherd and it is packed full of misdirection and most importantly of empathy and love! When I pick up a Vanda Symon book, especially if that is a Sam Shepard one I know I am guaranteed a brilliant read and this was no exception. I got ridiculously excited when this fell through my postbox and I couldn't wait to read it!

Sam Shephard is just about to return to work after taking six months maternity leave after the birth of her daughter. Like most mums, she is loathe to leave her daughter but also is looking forward to returning to the adult world. It is her first day back and she is surprised when her boss DI Johns allocates her a cold case and she will have sole responsibility for it. Sam thinks it is a poisoned chalice of a case as a) it happened 25 years ago and b) the man who was killed was DI John's wife’s father! The victim was Reverend Mark Freeman and he was killed outside his church, the main cathedral in Dunedin. Sam feels a lot of pressure to solve this one, especially since her worst critic is so closely involved.

I do love a cold case as it means the detective has to rely on good old-fashioned policework - talking to people and this is what Sam does best. Somehow, she has the uncanny ability to make people open up to her and tell her things they really shouldn't. However, in this case, she finds that people are lying and hiding things from the get-go and she is finding it hard to locate even a witness who has a bad thing to say about the Reverend. He seems to be the perfect man, loyal to the church, wants to help people and is a loving family man. It is not until a vital witness is murdered that Sam begins to unravel the whole mess.

Sam is one of my favourite characters out there at the moment. She is unflinchingly real. She doesn't have all the foibles of some detectives out and her weakness is a cup of tea and a biccy! But that makes her come across as so human and that she could be your best friend as easily as she is a brilliant detective. I love her evolution into a loving mum as it has crystallized her strength into being a protector but also she is now more aware of why parents make the decisions they do in her cases. There is also a very powerful scene between her and her own mum in the book in which the writing took my breath away.

This is an emotional case and the reader is shown a different side to the arrogant DI Johns. He has reopened this case as he does actually want to give some closure to his family and when the ramifications of this decision digs up the trauma from 25 years ago, he does seem to support his wife and family. He might be an arrogant ass at work but at home he seems to a different man. However, maybe some secrets are best left hidden and it was clear from the start that not everyone was going to get a happy ending! This was an emotional story and was peppered with misdirection, smoke and mirrors and was brilliantly plotted and written. I was literally stuck to my seat and devoured this in about four hours. I always find Vanda’s writing so engrossing and this was no different. There is a razor wit there and I can see more of Vanda in Sam as the series progresses.

Let me know if you pick this one up!

As an FYI Vanda is coming to the UK next month and will be appearing at Bloody Scotland alongside Michael Bennett.

https://bloodyscotland.com/kiwi-crime-vanda-symon-and-michael-bennett/

Hope to see some of you there!