Publisher's Weekly Review
In this tense crime novel from British author Cameron (Normal), Sgt. Ali Green of Norwich CID, seconded to the Major Investigation Team, goes on emergency leave after she's brutally beaten by an unknown assailant she suspects is the serial killer she's pursuing, Thomas Reed. Two months after the attack, Ali suffers bouts of memory loss and lack of mobility. When the car of one of two other detectives working the case, which has been missing since the incident, is found burnt out with at least one corpse inside, Ali returns to work. With this new evidence, the police resume their search for Thomas, who may be responsible for the disappearance of four girls in addition to the two detectives, now presumed dead. Meanwhile, Ali clashes with Kevin McManus, a colleague who was wounded during the same attack and realizes that Ali is trying to conceal her mental and physical limitations. The characters' psychological motivations ring true, and the action builds to a spine-tingling resolution. Readers will hope to see more of feisty, appealing Ali. Agent: Amy Moore-Benson, AMB Literary Management (Canada). (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
This is a follow-up to Cameron's well-received 2016 thriller Normal, which broke the mold by introducing a serial killer with hopes, fears, dreams, and a capacity for love. Just like us. Dead Girls picks up where the earlier effort ended. The points of view here are the cops who barely survived their struggles to bring the killer down and are still trying to get him. That's the problem. The author makes no attempt to link them, their narratives, or their dialogue to the larger story, so readers have to go through page after page wondering who these people are and what the devil they're talking about. On the other hand, much of the story is told in a vivid language that pleases the ear as well as the brain, and the undertone of ghoulish humor is as entertaining as it is startling. It's not often we meet a mass murderer in fiction who loses patience with a victim's attempt to fight back and snaps, keep still so I can kill you. --Crinklaw, Don Copyright 2018 Booklist
