Waiting for Wednesday by Nicci French

After being attacked by a suspect in a case she was asked to consult on, Frieda Klein managed to survive. No one really believed her when she said that a suspect in a previous case had been stalking her so they surely wouldn't believe that this person was her real savior. No, the final word on the event is that Frieda herself killed her attacker. 

After time recovering in the hospital she has returned home but she and DCI Karlsson have been told that under no circumstances is Frieda to become involved in another case. Instead, Karlsson is to work with the official consultant, Hal Bradshaw, a man whose clashes with Frieda have become increasingly venomous. 

When a wife and mother of three is found murdered in her home, it seems to be a case of interrupted burglary. The investigation becomes complicated when Karlsson and his team learn that not only does the burglar have an alibi for the time of the murder, but the victim was hiding a few secrets that could have prompted the crime. Karlsson ignores orders bringing Frieda in to help only to learn that Bradshaw has launched a recent smear campaign against Frieda and some of her colleagues. But Frieda, still dealing with the psychological affects of her near death, is distracted by an inquiry of her own. 

This third in the Frieda Klein series is yet another fabulous installment! I think what I love most about this series is that while there is certainly a mystery driving the story forward - and in this case two mysteries - the real momentum of the series comes from the characters themselves. Frieda, Karlsson, Josef, Chloë and Olivia, Reuben, and all of the others all have things they're dealing with.

So often, the focus of a thriller/mystery is the individual plot of the book. The characters can get pushed to the side and any real development is almost coincidental. That's not the case at all here. Husband and wife Nicci Gerard and Sean French excel at creating rich and complicated characters whose stories remain central to the series. The fact that they are able to also weave wonderfully plotted mysteries around all of these people and their lives makes this series unique and a true stand out.

I would definitely suggest reading the series through from the beginning as there are a lot of details carried over from book to book. Readers diving in with this third title will likely be confused by these elements (Dean Reeve, Bradshaw's animosity towards Frieda, characters' backstories...). Plus the series just keeps getting better and better!

Rating: 4.5/5