The Burning. Jane Casey. Ebury Press (2010)

A very entertaining and engaging British police procedural. A murderer has beaten four women to death and set fire to the bodies and a fifth body has been found. Detective Constable Maeve Kerrigan is part of the team investigating the murders and she is assigned to investigate this fifth victim, an opportunity she is very happy to take on. The investigation is pursued with professional competence and confidence and as the details of the victim's life are revealed more questions arise than answers.  The story twists very satisfactorily and the reveals are very well staged, the conclusion is suitably sour.
The plot mechanics and the context for the investigation are very well set up, the fifth victim poses a serious and credible problem for the investigation, the chance to investigate the victim is an opportunity and a possible problem for an ambitious police officer. Jane Casey balances the possibilities of the story with great flair, an ambitious, clever female lead in a male dominated context creates story tensions that are exploited very smartly without ever feeling contrived to make a point. One of the pleasures of the story is that Maeve Kerrigan is unashamedly ambitious, conscious of the politics of developing a career and determined to embrace them to advance herself. Doing this as a ordinary part of working and being capable, confident and female is a striking only because it is written as being so ordinary.
Maeve Kerrigan is a great lead, she has the self confidence needed to bring the reader along with her without annoying them, also has a a interesting and credibly creaky private life that is neither a mess nor dysfunctional. The second major narrator is a nice contrast to Maeve, driven rather than confident, she is brutally self conscious ans never quite comfortable in her skin and context. The supporting cast are treated generously, they are given the time and space to make an impression and have an individual voice. Jane Casey has a gift for conjuring a character in a very short space so that they can catch the reader. There is a significant cast member who is a bit of a blank, this is not a problem it is just interesting that this character in particular should be so shadowy, in most similar stories they would be much more developed.
The structure of the story work a little against the general intent of the story, as the plot becomes clearer a question that should be a surprise become a little less so. If a cast member gets a lot of attention then it would seem logical that there is a specific reason for it, within the genre there are relatively few reasons for this attention and at some point in the story it becomes more likely what the reason is.
Smart crime fiction is a pleasure and The Burning is all that.

The Kill. Jane Casey. Ebury Press (2014)

Very enjoyable police procedural with am engaging lead character. A police officer is shot in a car in a park  in London and other police officers are attacked. There does not appear to be any connection between the attacks and Detective Constable Maeve Kerrigan and Detective Inspector Josh Derwent have to dig very deep to find the thread that connects everything. The reveals are superbly staged, the investigation is thorough and the dark story emerges in a compelling fashion.
A first person narritive has a considerable burden to manage, the narrator has to emerge clearly and the rest of the cast have to do so as well. There has to be a careful balance between all of the cast so that the full story can be heard by the reader. Maeve Kerrigan is a smart, confident, competent police officer with enough sharp edges to be engaging and without too much baggage to be annoying or distracting. She has the confidence to share the story with her boss, Josh Derwent a man she admires professionally and finds personally annoying. While this is Maeve Kerrigan's story to tell, Josh Derwent emerges as a character in his own right  and an effective and engaging counterweight to Maeve.
Meave Kerrigan is a female lead character in a first person narration story and what is pleasantly striking is is her assured self confidence. The fact that she is female is significant to exactly the right extent, what is more important is that she is competent, forthright and hard working. She has a personal life that is just uncertain enough to provide a dramatic element without it ever undermining her. Josh Derwent appreciates Maeve's professional competence and skills while still being a little uncomfortable at her being female.
Jane Casey fruitfully uses this to create a credible tension and useful friction between the two leads and to use the differences between them to draw in the rest of the cast. One of the significant pleasures of the story is the slow reveal of the cold and clever person at the heart of the trouble, they are substantial enough to provide a real threat and force. First rate crime fiction.