But it is very much a page-turner, with a mystery to solve and a relatively satisfying - if slightly unrealistic - ending. But when an important link with another unsolved abduction - of a young girl 20 years go in similar circumstances - emerges, Frieda suddenly becomes a vital cog in the inquiry.īlue Monday isn’t a police procedural, so it’s not that sort of crime novel. Could it be that Alan has snatched him from the street? Is the “dream” merely a cover story?įrieda takes her concerns to Detective Chief Inspector Karlsson, who is leading the investigation into Mathew’s disappearance, but he think she is wasting his time. Matthew’s description matches the boy in Alan’s dream. He relates these dreams to Frieda, describing the child in minute detail.Īt about the same time, a major police hunt is underway, looking for a missing five-year-old boy called Matthew Farraday, who is believed to have been abducted.

Sadly, his wife seems unable to fall pregnant, but he is so obsessed with becoming a father that he is dreaming of his son-to-be. In this story, which oozes London ambiance - it’s particularly evocative of North London and the Square Mile - Frieda is treating Alan Dekker, a troubled man who is desperate to have a child. Hence, I was rather excited when I found out that French was branching off into a new direction, moving away from nail-biting psychological thrillers, and focusing on a new series of crime thrillers (with the emphasis on crime).īlue Monday, published two months ago, is the first in a series of eight novels based around psychotherapist Frieda Klein. My only quibble is that in recent years the formula - of embattled female on the run from a threat no one else can see - has become a little jaded.

Of course, they are not “literary” novels, but they are wonderful fun - and very entertaining. I have followed her career right from the start and read each of her 12 bestselling novels, often as soon as they become available in hardcover. Regular readers of this blog will know I have a weak spot for Nicci French, the pseudonym for husband-and-wife writing team Nicci Gerard and Sean French. Fiction – hardcover Michael Joseph 416 pages 2011.

Nicci french blue monday series