Short Story Sunday: Three Weeks Dead by Rebecca Bradley

This week’s short story is a prequel novella to a crime series I’ve had on my radar for a while [but I’m yet to start]. Three Weeks Dead is book 0.5 in the DI Hannah Robbins series.

Book Description:

How far would you go if someone took your wife? Especially, if you buried her a week ago. When Jason Wells is faced with this scenario, he is confronted with the prospect of committing a crime that will have far-reaching consequences. Can young DC Sally Poynter get through to him before he crosses that line, or does a desperate husband prove to be the case she won’t ever forget? A prequel novella, set before Shallow Waters, the first in the DI Hannah Robbins series.

My Thoughts:

Although this is a prequel to the DI Hannah Robbins series, the main protagonist is DC Sally Poynter, so in this one we get a small introduction to Hannah but Sally is the main focus and I’m interested to learn more about both ladies in book one – Shallow Waters.

Sally is new to the Major Crimes Unit, working her first kidnapping case – is it still kidnapping when the person that’s been kidnapped is dead? This is the first novella I’ve read that is a police procedural and I was worried that there would be too few pages for the story to be fully developed – a needless worry. Told in alternating points of view, between Sally and Jason, allows us a double insight into the case, Sally trying to solve it and Jason doing what he feels is necessary to get his wife’s body back, making this case interesting with enough suspense to keep you entertained.

As for the characters, Bradley has developed them enough, that even though, this is a short story, you really get a feel for the characters. Sally is likeable, finding her feet in the new team and eager to prove herself. There’s the supportive colleagues and the colleague we all love to hate, the one who goes out of his way to make Sally’s job difficult.

Three Weeks Dead is a novella that leaves you wanting more, in a good way! The case is resolved but Bradley’s given me a taste of what she can deliver and I’m excited to read her full-length novels, to discover more about the characters (and their backstories) and see how they fare in the next case they are tasked with solving.

This book is available to buy now from: Amazon UK

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