The Blurb
The shocking murder of a heavily pregnant woman throws the New Zealand city of Dunedin into a tailspin, and the devastating crime feels uncomfortably close to home for Detective Sam Shephard as she counts down the days to her
own maternity leave. Confined to a desk job in the department, Sam must find the missing link between this brutal crime and a string of cases involving mothers and children in the past. As the pieces start to come together and the realisation dawns that the killer’s actions are escalating, drastic measures must be taken to prevent more tragedy. For Sam, the case becomes personal, when it becomes increasingly clear that she is no longer safe, and the clock is ticking…..
My Review
Pregnant, uncomfortable, perhaps in denial a small being was about to enter her life, Detective Sam Shephard was heading towards maternity leave. If you thought Symon would let it be a quiet affair then you were wrong, very wrong.
A brutal murder of a pregnant woman, the baby unceremoniously whipped from her stomach sent Shephard into a race against time to find the baby and the perpetrator. This time stuck behind a desk, Symon made us very aware that this was not where she wanted to be, but we all knew this was not going to stop Sam.
That dogged determination was still in there, that ability to drag out the smallest of clues from the endless streams of information.
You could see her going off on a tangent, that inane ability to think outside the box, unlike her colleagues whose tried and tested methods never seemed to achieve the same results.
You knew for Sam that it was personal an affront on her own state, on the baby that writhed within her, that threatened that happy end result.
Partner and fellow detective, Paul was supportive, protective as much as Sam would allow, but knew to let her have own way. Others didn’t see it that way and the old rivalry with the boss was still there, Sam butting against his misogyny, his jealousy, never supportive, always looking for that one way to trip her up.
As the days passed so Sam finally began to make progress, and the motive for the crime slowly emerged.
I liked that Symon chose to appeal to our heart, our emotions, made you feel compassion for the reasons, made it all so personal to Sam, but was still able to add danger and drama.
Of course you knew that Sam would be at its centre and your pulse definitely ratcheted up a few notches, waiting for a happy ending.
This was Symon’s most personal and emotive novel to date, and for me that made it one of her best. I cannot wait to meet Sam Shephard once more.
I would like to thank Orenda Books for a copy of Expectant to read and review and to Random Things Tours for inviting My Bookish Blogspot to participate in the blogtour.
About the author
Vanda Symon lives in Dunedin, New Zealand. As well as being a crime writer, she has a PhD in science communication and is a researcher at the Centre for Pacific Health at the University of Otago. Overkill was shortlisted for the 2019 CWA John Creasey Debut Dagger Award and she is a four-time finalist for the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel for her critically acclaimed Sam Shephard series. The fourth in the series, Bound, was shortlisted for a Barry Award. Vanda produces and hosts Write On, a monthly radio show focusing on the world of books at Otago Access Radio. When she isn’t working or writing, Vanda can be found in the garden, or on the business end of a fencing foil.
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