The Last Days of Kira Mullan by Nicci French

                                                 

Hardback: 438 pages

Genre: Crime Thriller

Publisher: Simon and Schuster 2025

Source: Tywyn Public Library

First Sentences: The journey into darkness began with the move, although for Nancy North moving felt more like an ending. The wreckage of the past lay behind her and she couldn't see into the future or imagine what it would be.

Setting:  London, England

Review Quote: Alison Flood for the Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/jan/21/and-thrillers-of-the-month-review-nicci-french-last-days-of-kira-mullan-

My Opinion:  I have been aware of the married couple Nicci Gerard and Sean French who write together as Nicci French for a long time. However this is only the second novel of theirs I have read. Probably because crime thrillers are not a genre I read very often, but having enjoyed the last one I read, decided to give it a go.

'The Last Days of Kira Mullan' is the heart-rending story of Nancy North, who having recently suffered a nervous breakdown is being cared for by her over solicitous boyfriend Felix. He has even decided that they should move to a new home to aid her recovery. Within days of their arrival one of the neighbours Kira, whom Nancy had met briefly, is found dead in her flat. The police quickly declare the death to be suicide. Nancy does not believe this to be the case, however absolutely no one else believes her. There is pressure on her from all directions as her life unravels as she battles against the odds to try and prove Kira was murdered.

Another emotional and complex thriller, that certainly kept me guessing and not correctly. Recommended to all fans of crime thrillers. 

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads: 

From international bestselling master of suspense Nicci French comes a chilling new psychological thriller about a woman determined to get justice for a murder no one else believes happened.

Nancy North is ready to put her life back together. After suffering a psychotic break that ruined friendships, stalled her fledgling restaurant, and forced her to move out of her comfortable flat, she’ll do anything to get back to normal. She and her partner Felix—who has been a saint through her recent troubles—move into a new flat for a fresh start.

Nancy is taking her pills, seeing her therapist, and avoiding unnecessary stress. She’s doing absolutely everything right, but something is still very, very wrong. On the first day in the new flat, she hears them again; the mysterious voices that triggered her first episode. It could just be the unfamiliar sounds of water in the pipes, or the screaming baby across the hall, but deep down she knows something more sinister is going on. Her fears are confirmed when the young woman in the downstairs flat, Kira, is found dead. Felix, her neighbors, and even the police insist it’s a tragic suicide, but the pieces aren’t adding up for Nancy. Can she trust her own instincts, or is it all in her head?

Meanwhile, Detective Inspector Maud O’Connor has misgivings about her colleagues’ investigation of Kira’s death. The boys club at the top seems intent on closing the case as quickly as possible, especially since the only person who thinks it could be anything other than suicide is known to be unreliable. But Maud knows what it’s like to be dismissed as an overemotional woman and isn’t so quick to discount Nancy’s claims. As tensions reach an explosive breaking point, the line between fact and delusion becomes dangerously blurred, but Maud will stop at nothing to ensure that the truth comes to light.

Previous Review:    Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter

Author Profile:

                                

                                             Photo Courtesy of Amazon                                                                                                                                               

Note: (Nicci Gerrard and Sean French also write separately.)

Nicci Gerrard was born in June 1958 in Worcestershire. After graduating with a first class honours degree in English Literature from Oxford University, she began her first job, working with emotionally disturbed children in Sheffield. In that same year she married journalist Colin Hughes.

In the early eighties she taught English Literature in Sheffield, London and Los Angeles, but moved into publishing in 1985 with the launch of Women's Review, a magazine for women on art, literature and female issues. In 1987 Nicci had a son, Edgar, followed by a daughter, Anna, in 1988, but a year later her marriage to Colin Hughes broke down.

In 1989 she became acting literary editor at the New Statesman, before moving to the Observer, where she was deputy literary editor for five years, and then a feature writer and executive editor. It was while she was at the New Statesman that she met Sean French.

Sean French was born in May 1959 in Bristol, to a British father and Swedish mother. He too studied English Literature at Oxford University at the same time as Nicci, also graduating with a first class degree, but their paths didn't cross until 1990. In 1981 he won Vogue magazine's Writing Talent Contest, and from 1981 to 1986 he was their theatre critic. During that time he also worked at the Sunday Times as deputy literary editor and television critic, and was the film critic for Marie Claire and deputy editor of New Society.

Sean and Nicci were married in Hackney in October 1990. Their daughters, Hadley and Molly, were born in 1991 and 1993.

In 1995 Nicci and Sean began work on their first joint novel and adopted the pseudonym of Nicci French. 

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