Select one of the keywords
Dark Saturday: A Frieda Klein Novel    by Nicci French Amazon.com order for
Dark Saturday
by Nicci French
Order:  USA  Can
William Morrow, 2017 (2017)
Softcover, CD, e-Book
* * *   Reviewed by Hilary Williamson

Dark Saturday is the sixth in an outstanding series (that began with Blue Monday), written by the bestselling husband-and-wife team of journalists Nicci Gerrard and Sean French. The lead is psychotherapist Frieda Klein, a restless person who roams the city nightly, struggling with her own dark past.

Over previous episodes Frieda has won the respect and trust of DCI Malcolm Karlsson, but not of his colleague Yvette Long or superiors, who usually consult her profiler nemesis, Dr. Hal Bradshaw. Frieda's associates - her mentor Reuben; the colleague, Jack, whom she mentors; her sister Olivia and niece Chloe; and Ukrainian builder Josef - continue to add depth to the series. And she still worries about her stalker, Dean Reeve, whom she unmasked as a child abductor and murderer.

As Dark Saturday opens, Hannah Docherty has been imprisoned (for long periods in solitary confinement) in a psychiatric hospital, Chelsworth, since her conviction as a troubled teen for the horrific slaughter of her mother, younger brother and stepfather. In hospital, Hannah is targeted by psychopath Mary, whose minions frequently attack her. Enter Frieda, who is asked to assess Hannah by the mysterious Walter Levin, to whom she owes a significant debt.

Frieda soon doubts Hannah's guilt and meets with an obsessed blogger, Erin Brack, who collected material on the case, even taking the contents of the family's garbage bins. Erin lets Frieda take it all. But someone doesn't want her to have it. And even though she finds new and shocking evidence, the police will not re-open the investigation. Frieda persists - and uncovers the truth. But then another corpse is discovered, ending the episode on a frightening cliffhanger!

Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons.

Find more Mystery books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews