The Teacher, Katerina Diamond, Jonathan Ball Publishers, ISBN: 9780008180461
THE debut novel by Katerina Diamond has one of the most intense, dark and oddly intriguing openings to any book that has graced my reading list. The tension in the first few pages is palpable, and if the author had her say, could easily be cut with a knife. By the time you’ve hit the end of chapter one, you will be hooked.
The city of Exeter in England is racked with the deaths of prominent and seemingly unconnected community members, that start of the death count with the apparent suicide of a headmaster at a prestigious boys school. Two disgraced police officers, DS Adrian Miles and DS Imogen Grey, are thrown together in a race to find the connection before another name is added to the ever-growing list.
While the story may rely on the two police officers to move forward, I found myself more intrigued with the longer and more in-depth stories of the two side characters. DS Adrian Miles and DS Imogen Grey each have their own demons to face with back stories that could have been more fleshed out to give the characters a more prominent role in the book. Unfortunately, their parts feel rushed and clumsy. This will hopefully be addressed in her next novel, The Secret.
The crime thriller, as the book suggests, is definitely not for the faint-hearted as there are deeply descriptive murder scenes that may leave a few readers cringing at a few of the chapters. This is a definite must for fans of crime novels.
