Killing them was her fantasy… soon to be her reality…
Two women. Two pasts they can’t outrun. One violent path that will bring them together.
When a series of brutal murders hits Manchester’s criminal underworld, rookie detective Liv Mendes is determined to prove herself. The victims are dangerous men, but the killer is skilled, and leaves almost nothing behind – a level of precision that doesn’t fit gang retaliation, despite what her colleagues insist. Liv senses something else. Something personal.
Because somewhere in the city, a woman who once survived hell has spent five long years preparing. Training. Waiting. And now the names she feared seeing again have finally resurfaced, forcing her to finally take action.
As Liv digs deeper, the truth behind the killings becomes harder to ignore, and even harder to condemn. The closer she gets to the killer, the closer she gets to her own buried past… and the line between justice and revenge begins to blur.
Gritty. Dark. Relentless. Wronged Woman is a revenge thriller with a conscience.
Nordic Noir it isn’t but what Wronged Woman delivers is as noir, dark and terrifying as the freezing Scandinavian night in the middle of nowhere where orientation seems impossible. Where all maps appear outdated and the compass lost its capacity to show the right way. While reading Col Bury’s latest book set in Manchester I felt stressed, worried and, most of all, outraged by the violence and misogyny of the main perpetrators. The descriptions of their brutality and methods to abuse, intimidate and humiliate others, and not just women, are vivid and hard to stomach. Selfish way of thinking and kind of justifying what they want to do. But of course this is a novel, a work of fiction to tell a gripping story, to capture its readers and to express the author’s ideas and questions. Anyway, I was wondering how our compasses were doing: mine, Liv’s and Jess’s. Is it possible to follow the path of law and justice, and still understand why someone becomes a serial killer? Can you feel connection with a murderer? Does the law apply equally to everyone?
This is the most serious issue that Bury puts under a spotlight: all consequences of rape within the legal system and in the society. On one hand there a series of horrible murders, and violent men being killed, plus the tough investigative day-to-day police work: analysis of all possible data, interviews, spactulations, internal verbal battles; pressure and evidence. On the other: Jess Lawler, a young woman whose life has been completely destroyed on all levels: emotional, physical and psychological. A woman functioning apparently well within the society while devising revenge plans over the years. Every aspect of her existence leads to complete the mission, and she has awareness that what she’s constantly thinking about and then doing is morally wrong: ‘Yes, Lenthwaite had been messier and more horrific than even she’d anticipated, in spite of playing out all possibilities in her mind beforehand. She thought she’d blown it at one point when he staggered away and started flailing his arms. The fear factor had been greater on this occasion, knowing what he was capable of. But, in truth, it wasn’t just him who she was scared of… it was herself. What had she become?’
The other main female character is Detective Constable Liv Mendes, bright, eager, newly promoted and trying to find her place in the well-established Major Incident Team. ‘On the outside – notwithstanding the lack of men in her life, which was her own choice – Mendes had it all: independence, good job, own place, lovely son and supportive mother. According to others, she also had the good looks. The latter could sometimes be a hindrance.’ She still remembers her earlier work experiences and can relate to ordinary police staff: ‘Being here now, took her back to her uniform days and a part of her missed it, despite being firmly at the bottom of the food chain where shit ran downhill by the bucket-load.’ What nobody knows though is that, just like Jess, she has been severely marked by being raped.
When Jess and Liv meet both their lives change. As our perceptions might.
‘The best thing about running in the rain was that no one could see your tears.’
Wronged Woman, told from several perspectives, makes for a compelling, powerful and gritty story, with richness of local knowledge which is very welcome. Dialogues and work-related interactions bring confrontations, reflections and dry sense of humour which often diffused difficult situations: ‘I’m not into slagging off our colleagues, but they were gone like shit off a shovel once we arrived.’ I’d recommend that you read it.
The author is an ex-cop and the former award-winning crime editor of the popular ezine Thrillers, Killers ’n’ Chillers. His debut crime novel My Kind of Justice, originally traditionally published, attracted interest from a New York agent. His short fiction appears online, in his Amazon collections, and in numerous anthologies, including three editions of The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime, proudly alongside some of the genre’s biggest names. Col Bury lives near the inspiring hills of the Peak District, just outside his beloved Manchester, with his wife and youngest daughter. He has two grown up children, a long running season ticket at Manchester City, and still plays five a side twice a week with lads half his age.
