Cruel Acts

Maeve Kerrigan, Book 8

By: Jane Casey

Narrated by: Caroline Lennon

The Sunday Times bestseller and winner of the Irish Independent crime fiction book of the year!

Guilty?

A year ago, Leo Stone was convicted of murdering two women and sentenced to life in prison. Now he’s been freed on a technicality, and he’s protesting his innocence.

Not guilty?

DS Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent are determined to put Stone back behind bars where he belongs, but the more Maeve digs, the less convinced she is that he did it.

The wrong decision could be deadly…

Then another woman disappears in similar circumstances. Is there a copycat killer, or have they been wrong about Stone from the start?

What people are saying about Cruel Acts:

‘Magnificent’ Marian Keyes

‘Clever, classy crime fiction’ Erin Kelly

‘Brilliant’ Fiona Barton

‘Terrific’ Sarah Hilary

‘I adored this book’ Liz Nugent

‘Authentic’ Jo Spain

‘Compulsive’ Patricia Gibney

‘Powerful’ Helen Fields

‘Kept me turning the pages long into the night’ Rachel Abbott

‘Emotional’ Sinéad Crowley

©2019 Jane Casey (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"Cruel Acts is magnificent. I've loved all Jane Casey's books but this is definitely her best one. I could not stop reading it! Utter brilliance." (Marian Keyes)

"You'll be checking the locks and looking over your shoulder after reading this one: Cruel Acts is clever, classy crime fiction with a conscience. I couldn't put it down." (Erin Kelly, best-selling author of He Said/She Said)

"Jane Casey's brilliant storytelling pulled me straight into Maeve Kerrigan's world, leaving me breathless and wanting more. Brava!" (Fiona Barton, best-selling author of The Widow)

About the new narrator

I love the Maeve Kerrigan books and this book was a fine addition to the series. I noticed that many people noted the new narrator. I miss Sarah Coomes, as many others have mentioned. I checked the Audible UK website and Caroline Lennon is the narrator of the Maeve Kerrigan series there. My main concern about the change is that Maeve has mentioned that she doesn't sound Irish, having been born and raised in England, and Ms. Lennon has a lovely Irish lilt. However, I look forward to more in the Kerrigan series, whoever reads it.

Poor narration

It is difficult enough to adjust to a new narrator after listening to the entire series with the previous one, but to make matters worse this narrator rarely changed intonation and it was difficult to follow which characters were talking. The monotony of the performance made it difficult to stick with despite another good Jane Casey story.

Great read

Although there were some disturbing crimes, they are not described in graphic detail. I’ve grown more squeamish lately, this didn’t cross the line for me.

Both main characters continue to change and grow while also learning to understand each other better. And even the minor players are given a chance to be more than stereotypes. It’s one of my favorite things about this series, and a high compliment to any long running series.

Caroline Lennon destroyed Maeve Kerrigan!

Like so many others have said, Lennon’s narration is truly awful, and has ruined the book. Bring back Sarah Coomes.

Love this series so much!!

Please bring back Sarah Coomes! Caroline is a fine reader but it feels out of place when Sarah read the first SEVEN books

I Love This New Narrator!

I must be in the minority here, but I love Caroline Lennon's narration. A big improvement over Sarah Coomes! Sarah had a lovely voice when she chose to tone it down, but I hated the way she did men's voices and the breathy, hyper style. I find Caroline's much more listenable, and I like how she tells the story as if she really understands and likes it. All this complaining! You may miss Sarah Coomes but Caroline Lennon is certainly not "bad."

The story itself is one of my faves in the series. It's really well done. One of the more interesting cases with a nice twist at the end.

Narrator was excellent!

First: Well, heaven help the poor narrator who steps into a series already in progress! I loved the original reader but I thought Caroline Lennon did a terrific job. The reviews led to me to expect a ruinous mess - not so. She sounds a bit older as Maeve, but I thought her storytelling was great. No problem enjoying this reading at all.

That said, this was a welcome addition to one of my favorite series. I love the dynamic between Maeve and Durwent (aren’t we all dying for them to get a room already?) and it’s been way too long since the last book. Write faster Jane.

Story not as good as previous books in this series.

I loved the previous stories and characters but they seemed different in this book. Maeve made stupid decisions and there seemed to be no chemistry or depth with Derwent this time.

Not my favourite

Not loving the new narration and found the story line took forever to get anywhere

Love Maeve!

took getting used to a different narrator, but as always the story was great!
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