Chez Maximka: End Game by Liz Mistry

Saturday, 22 April 2023

End Game by Liz Mistry

"Nikki's throat clogged up with unshed tears as she read more and more flower names. Never again would she be able to appreciate flowers in the same way. Flowers should be free - in gardens, in forests, in the wild. Not viciously plucked from the hearts of their families and trapped in a life of hell."

End Game by Liz Mistry is a compelling and heart-wrenching crime novel.

This is the latest book in the DS Nikki Parekh series. It reads as a standalone, but you would understand the dynamics in the police unit and Nikki's family better, if you've read some of the previous books.

Blurb:

Four dead bodies. One missing person. Let the game begin.

When an anonymous tip-off leads Detective Nikki Parekh and DS Sajid Malik to the sprawling Salinger estate, Nikki's senses are on high alert. The brutal murder of all four members of the Salinger family has shocked the sleepy Bradford village to the core.

A mother, father, daughter, and son... all killed in exactly the same way - whilst sat around the coffee table, playing a game of monopoly.

But Nikki notices that there are five pieces on the board. One of the players is missing... Did they manage to escape the killer, or was the killer part of the game?

When DI Nikki Parekh arrives at the crime scene in the rural Bradford village, she is warned that it is not one of the easiest scenes to view. Victims are the Salinger family: mother, father and two children. The whole family is annihilated in their own home. The idea seems inconceivable.

"However, Nikki had seen so many soul-destroying things during murder investigations that she realised that sometimes the inconceivable became a harsh reality".

The victims are left sitting around the coffee table with the Monopoly board, set for five players. There are four bodies, and no sight of the weapon.

"A fifth person had been in this room at the time of the attack on the Salingers, which made that person either a killer or a witness. Who was this mysterious person?"

The Salingers must have had their share of secrets, and some of them might hold a clue as to who and why had committed this atrocity.

This is Nikki's first official case as detective inspector and senior investigating officer, and she has no intention of messing it up.

As the investigation progresses slowly, Nikki's nemesis, journalist Lisa Kane publishes a slanderous and provocative article in the local paper, accusing the police, and Nikki's team in particular, in incompetence. The attacks on the police are personal and vicious.

Along the murder investigation plotline, we follow a first person narrative by a young girl Marnie, who's been kidnapped from her garden several years previously. To cope with the trauma of her life in captivity, Marnie chooses to stay silent. Being silent is the only power she can wield. It is her way of protesting against her abusers, and also a coping mechanism to escape the darkest reality.

Marnie's narrative is poignant and affecting. Your heart will ache for her and the other victims. For Nikki and her team the abduction and abuse of children will prove to be the toughest challenge yet.

Nikki is an appealing lead character. She is strong and vulnerable at the same time, and very likeable. Her team also make a terrific supporting cast of characters.

Like the other books in the series, End Game is a dark thriller, with a strong police procedural element. The storylines are typically gritty and tense. I found this book (and Broken Silence) very grim and sinister, to the point that I had to give myself some mental breaks and read it in instalments. It's not an easy read.

The narrative is split into different voices, including that of the voiceless victim. There is also a point of view of the ghastly perpetrator, which I struggled with as it felt too voyeuristic.

So a trigger warning is only fair. The themes of child abuse and murder could be very triggering.

Tense, twisty and poignant, End Game is utterly engrossing. The narrative is powerful and gripping, with superb characterisation, and a kick-ass good detective.

This post is part of the blog tour for End Game.

Many thanks to Liz Mistry and Rachel's Random Resources for my e-copy of the book!

Purchase Links

UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/End-Game-absolutely-procedural-Detective-ebook/dp/B0BSWNHX66/

US - https://www.amazon.com/End-Game-absolutely-procedural-Detective-ebook/dp/B0BSWNHX66/

Author Bio –

Born in Scotland made in Bradford sums up LIZ MISTRY’s life. Over thirty-five years ago she moved from a small village in West Lothian to Yorkshire to get her teaching degree. Once here, Liz fell in love with three things: curries, the rich cultural diversity of the city… and her Indian husband (not necessarily in this order). Now thirty years, three children, Scumpy, the cat, and a huge extended family later, Liz uses her experiences of living and working in the inner city to flavour her writing. Her gritty crime fiction police procedural novels set in Bradford embrace the city she describes as ‘Warm, Rich and Fearless’, whilst exploring the darkness that lurks beneath.

Having struggled with severe clinical depression and anxiety for many years, Liz often includes mental health themes in her writing. She credits the MA in Creative Writing she took at Leeds Trinity University with helping her find a way of using her writing to navigate her ongoing mental health struggles. Liz’s PhD research contributes significantly to debates concerning issues of inclusion and diversity of representation within the most socially engaged genre of contemporary crime fiction Being a debut novelist in her fifties was something Liz had only dreamed of and she counts herself lucky, whilst pinching herself regularly to make sure it’s all real.

You can contact Liz via her website https://www.lizmistry.com/