Review: The Murder Bag – A Must-Read Thriller

Twenty years ago, seven rich, privileged students became friends at their exclusive private school, Potter’s Field. Now they have started dying in the most violent way imaginable.

Detective Max Wolfe has recently arrived in the Homicide division of London’s West End Central, 27 Savile Row.

Soon he is following the bloody trail from the city’s back streets and bright lights to the darkest corners of the internet and all the way to the corridors of power.

As the bodies pile up, Max finds the killer’s reach getting closer to everything – and everyone – he loves.

Soon he is fighting not only for justice but for his own life.

~Synopsis from goodreads

This book by Tony Parsons is the first in a new murder mystery series starring detective inspector Max Wolfe. This series is based in England.

I found the story and the setting somewhat generic. The plot closely resembles an old favorite of mine – Ten Plus One by Ed McBain, only now modernized and set in a different country with different characters.

There is no reference to Ten Plus One, so I suppose the similarity in storylines is a coincidence. What I can say is that I liked both books; storyline similarity is damned. OK, a little honesty here, I loved Ten Plus One, and I think it’s superior to The Murder Bag, but The Murder Bag is a pretty strong book in its own right.

OK, enough with the comparisons; now on to a proper, honest review.

My Review

The Murder Bag is a real page-turner, engrossing and unputdownable.

The main character, Detective Max Wolfe is a lonely single parent with a dog. As detectives go, he’s not particularly gloomy or troubled, but the indications are there that he could go that path in future books. For now, though, he’s lonely but still grateful for the companionship of his child and dog, and he’s a generally decent, stable, and all-around good guy.

When a series of gruesome murders hit London, Max Wolfe cannot find a link between the crime victims except for the murder method and an old-school photo. Being the smart detective he is, he quickly finds the link between the victims and discovers that events in the past hold the keys to the killer’s identity.

However, things get complicated because of a social media savant who takes credit for the murders and a lot of media hype tracking the murders.

Despite all this, Max does a decent job of staying on track with the killers and nailing down the culprits.

I”ll be honest, though. Some major clues and hints scattered throughout the narrative made guessing the killer’s identity easy. A little more subtlety could have carried the suspense on a lot longer. There is also one coincidence in the book that is a bit hard to swallow.

These issues aside, this book is a good, solid thriller and a good start.

Thanks to Penguin Random House for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.