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Kieran is a really wonderful character with a very strong voice. His autism is well-handled and his difficult home life is compelling to read about – I was desperately hoping for Tony and Ryan to get their comeuppance. It’s also got a massively strong ending which rounds things off perfectly for this storyline. Supporting characters are excellent, too - Tony and Ryan are vile but believably so, I felt massively sorry for Kieran's mum who's trapped in a terrible relationship, and there are sympathetic portrayals of homeless people, especially Kieran's friend Jean.
The crime aspect was less to my tastes, if I’m honest. Compared to other recent strong mysteries like [[The Glass Bird Girl by Esme Kerr]] and [[Murder Most Unladylike (Wells & Wong Mystery 1) by Robin Stevens]], it didn’t didn't feel like enough of a puzzle to me – I think it works far better as a character-driven book than a detective story, despite the tagline ''A mysterious crime. A different detective'' being what originally drew me to the novel. I was expecting to have more of a mystery to work out for myself and didn't think I got that.
So bearing that in mind, despite my issues with this aspect of the book it’s an easy recommendation to make on the strength of Kieran’s character. I think fans of thoughtful contemporaries will be really impressed by this debut. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more from Kim Slater!
