Cuts Like a Knife by M. K. Gilroy

A serial killer is in Chicago, brutally murdering beautiful women.  But a tough detective, Kristen Conner, is one of Chicago's best assigned to the crimes.  The police team make their way through reams of information as this is not the first city the murderer has visited.  The investigation stalls and it looks like Kristen may be targeted as the murderer's next victim.


This is a great debut novel with a tough female police detective.  I am always a bit cautious of a male author writing a novel with a female lead character.  Kristen may be a little tougher than your usual policewoman, but not beyond being believed.  Her father was a cop and she grew up into the police role.
Check out Gilroy's website, http://www.mkgilroy.com/, to see that he has been in the publishing realm for decades and decided to finally write a book himself.  He crafted this one as character driven.  The reader gets to know Kristen as well as she wants to be known.  She is a woman with anger issues and difficulty establishing an open and honest relationship.
Kristen's brother-in-law is a preacher and Christianity is a big part of this book.    Kriste struggles with her trust in God as she tries to stop the murderer before he harms her.


If you like police detective novels and won't be bothered by some bloody scenes, this is a great one!  It's a bit long but every bit of the story is essential.  It kept me reading late into the night, a sure sign of a well written novel.  I'll be watching for the sequel. 


Worthy Publishing, 460 pages.

To read more about M. K. Gilroy and why he wrote this novel, check out his website: http://www.mkgilroy.com/ 
See the publisher's product page here.

I received an egalley of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.