Without Consent - Kathryn Fox

Forensic physician, Dr Anya Crichton, comes across several rape victims in her job who all have similarities. Each one has a blade shaped bruise on their chest, a beaten left check and each one was told by their rapist 'If you can't be hurt, you can't be loved'. But when two of the victims are found stabbed to death, Anya and the police find themselves hunting a serial rapist who has now turned into a killer. The crimes seem to correspond with Geoffrey Willard's release from twenty years in prison for the rape and murder of a teenage girl. The details of the crimes are too similar and Willard falls directly under police scrutiny. But the forensic evidence ...  Read the complete review

Freelance forensic physician and part-time director of a sexual assault clinic, Anya Crichton finds a disturbing connection between several violent rapes and takes her concerns to the police. Before long, Geoffrey Willard, just out of prison after serving twenty years for the rape and murder of teenager Eileen Randall, is arrested for the attacks. At the same time Anya is asked to do some private consultancy work re-examining some old cases that call into question the work of one of her colleagues,Alf Carney. But then Willard's lawyer approaches Anya with some information that has considerable impact on the case and puts Anya in an awkward position. Anya ...  Read the complete review

Why is it that whenever a new female writer comes along, there is always a comparison to fellow thriller writers Patrica Cornwall and Kathy Reichs? Why, for once, can a new female talent not be judged on its own merits rather than those of others? Right from the beginning of this novel, I was struck by the number of reviewers in the front pages who had committed this faux pas and it almost succeeded in putting me off. Thankfully though it didn't because WITHOUT CONSENT isn't actually a bad read... A follow-up to debut novel, MALICIOUS INTENT, the book introduces us to Forensic Physician Anya Crichton who doubles both as a pathologist and part-time as a ...  Read the complete review