If you’re interested in reading my academic work about detective and crime fiction (free PDFs available), check it out here. Or you can take a look at my short story collection of cosy mysteries featuring Victorian “lady detective” Meinir Davies; order now!

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Review

I’m grateful to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy. The novel is due out on 8 May 2025.

This is really a book of two halves. We spend approximately the first half on the question: “Who Is The Caretaker?” We join Jess Pendle on her search for support and independence away from an abusive partner, Lewis, while at the same time being introduced to The Caretaker, who attacks another man who we understand was, himself, an abuser. Jess finds a support group, but The Caretaker seems to be spiralling ever closer to them. In the second half, secret identity revealed, we ask ourselves: “How far will The Caretaker go?”

This book joins an assortment of highly popular books, TV series and films to explore the issue of righteous murder, including in the context of domestic abuse (think, Dexter, Jessica Jones, and Enough, but also novels like Sarah Naughton’s The Mothers). There are some thrills, scares, and some repulsive moments. It is not all for the faint of heart, but then, nor is life. The pacing is good. This read can rollick along if you want it to, although readers might want to step away and take it in small doses because of some of the subject matter. Stephens doesn’t shy away from the horror of domestic violence, which is very much to his credit.

Because this is the first of a series, the risk to The Caretaker is only mild in the second half when we are supposed to worry about not only the ethics of The Caretaker’s activities but also the prospect of The Caretaker’s capture. The police are to be evaded, sure, but their proximity is more ambiguous than directly threatening. There’s little risk of arrest and imprisonment in this first entry. There are also some elements left hanging irresolutely that might have been managed differently to create some more suspense for the second instalment. I don’t really mind this. I’m a chronic re-watcher and re-reader; the lack of suspense isn’t too much of a deterrent. But I think it could have been done a little more tidily, for example with Detective Sergeant Salam’s own circumstances. (And I think that Will Carver’s books did this better, although the gender and social isolation of the detective in that case probably made it more straightforward!)

The pseudonym ‘DB Stephens’ is adopted specifically for this series, I believe. I haven’t read any of Darren O’Sullivan’s previous books, but would happily go to his backlist for more. As is so often the case these days, many of my minor grumbles are matters for the publisher rather than the author. For example, the blurb online is slightly misleading. It talks about the support group’s therapist leaving as though it is a major precipitating event. In fact, it’s pretty irrelevant and barely noticeable as a plot point, as though the description is thrown out as a red herring. I find this quite irritating but increasingly common, particularly with books in this genre, and I would by far prefer more accurate blurbs, even if they were more cryptic. But perhaps I’m in a minority?

See also

These lists capture other stories and characters that I thought of as I was reading this piece. I won’t explain why, to avoid spoilers, but they’re associations and not ‘if you liked this, then you’ll love…’ recommendations!

• Psychopaths Anonymous (Will Carver)
• Enough (film)
• Jessica Jones (TV series)
• Fight Club (film)
• Dexter (books and TV series)
• The Mothers (Sarah Naughton’s novel, not the Brit Bennett one that seems to have trampled this great book out of existence online!)

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Take a look at my short story collection featuring Victorian “lady detective” Meinir Davies; order now!