Review: Nothing to Lose (Ziba MacKenzie #2) by Victoria Selman

  

Print Length: 274 pages

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer (May 9, 2017)

From Goodreads.com:  He’s looking for his next victim. She looks just like his last.

Primrose Hill, London. Offender Profiler Ziba MacKenzie arrives at the scene of a gruesome murder with a disturbing sense of déjà vu. Nine days earlier, another woman’s body was found: same location, same MO, same physical appearance. For the police, it’s clear a new serial killer is on the loose. But for Ziba, it’s even more sinister—because the victims look just like her.

Ziba has been the focus of a killer’s interest before, and knows that if she gets too close again this case could be her last. Still, she’s not one to play by the rules—especially when her secret investigation into her husband’s murder begins to attract unwanted attention.

With someone watching her every step, can Ziba uncover what connects the two victims before she becomes one herself?

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My Rating: 2 stars out of 5

While there are some mentions to events that happened in book one (mainly with the killer featured in the previous novel), this one could technically could be read as a stand-alone. The problem is, much like in book one, I didn't really care for Ziba herself. 

We are told that she is not only ex-special forces, but also a highly trained criminal profiler. However, time and again in this novel she not only makes some highly illogical (and dangerous) choices, but she also misses important clues time and again. 

Another thing that I had issue with (and this is most likely due in part to the fact that I am American, however I should be clear that I do not have this issue with any other book that takes place in the UK), there were so many slang terms used that I sometimes had trouble understanding. And while I get that some people do have a relaxed way of speaking, in a professional setting, it struck me as off. This again could be in part to Ziba's constant inner musings about how everyone around her is a jerk, or doesn't like her (gee I wonder why), or in one case "retarded" (yes the author actually chose to use that word to describe someone's actions). 

The plots themselves were interesting enough, and thankfully separate enough that I didn't have trouble following along. I was a little surprised that the secondary plot was also mostly resolved in this book as I expected the author to drag it out to the third. However, there is still one major plot point still left to be resolved (and that is the death of her husband that took place before the start of the first book). 

Overall, I probably will pick up the third (and I believe final) book in this series just to see how it all ends. Just not anytime soon. 

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                                                    Nothing to Lose is available from Amazon.com

                                   (for free if your subscribe to Kindle Unlimited)