Ritual Demise by Sally Rigby – Blog Tour (Review)

Writing reviews for crime procedurals can sometimes be difficult. The balance between wanting to give the plot justice while not giving away any plot points can be a difficult balance. That’s why you may find some of my reviews to be less detailed than others.

Just wanted to clear that up. Now, on to the review.

Ritual Demise is the seventh book in the Cavendish & Walker series. As such, there are a lot of references to past events and the characters are treated as if the reader already knows their backstories.

This can be a double-edged sword, because the author runs the risk of either boring readers who have read the other installments with too much explanation, or alienating and confusing readers new to the series, making them feel lost. I’m happy to report that the author does neither of these – it was perfectly fine to read as a stand-alone.

That’s not to say that knowing the backgrounds wouldn’t have added a bit more understanding, but that’s not vital to enjoying the story at hand.

One of the things that made this book enjoyable is that it reads like a tv procedural (no surprise, given the author’s background). Because of this the plot moves along quickly. The author has a firm grasp on policework and on the people who work in the field. Nothing jumped out at me as noticeably wrong (and I’m pretty picky about that). I like that the two lead characters are strong, smart women. More of that, please.

As to the plot itself, this is one of those things I mentioned at the beginning. I don’t want to give it away, because it would be easy to give a clue away. I’m a firm believer that crime procedurals (like mysteries) should be experienced by each reader. I thought that the ritualistic details of the murders was interesting and different. And that’s all you’re going to get from me on that!

This was an easy novel to read, and I highly recommend picking up this series.

About Sally Rigby:

Sally Rigby was born in Northampton, in the UK. She has always had the travel bug, and after living in both Manchester and London, eventually moved overseas. From 2001 she has lived with her family in New Zealand (apart from five years in Australia), which she considers to be the most beautiful place in the world. After writing young adult fiction for many years, under a pen name, Sally decided to move into crime fiction. Her Cavendish & Walker series brings together two headstrong, and very different, women – DCI Whitney Walker, and forensic psychologist Dr Georgina Cavendish. Sally has a background in education, and has always loved crime fiction books, films and TV programmes. She has a particular fascination with the psychology of serial killers.
Check out her website for a FREE prequel story….. www.sallyrigby.com