My Thoughts on the Novel, Love Story, with Murders: (Fiona Griffiths Book 2), 3/5/2026….

I’m really starting to enjoy this series. Fiona Griffiths is one of the most complex characters I’ve met in detective fiction. At two years of age, she was left in the back of a convertible of the man who would adopt her as his own—Tom Griffiths, a wily crime lord. In her teens, she suffered—and survived—Cotard’s Syndrome, where Fiona truly believed that she was dead. Needless to say, life in her mid-twenties, and as a detective constable in Cardiff, Wales, has its struggles, but she persists.

This mystery opens with the discovery of a body part in an elderly woman’s chest freezer in her garage. Other body parts are found, and an identity is discovered. A second victim, similarly butchered, is also found. But are the two connected? Fiona thinks so, as does her supervisor, a steely Detective Inspector Watkins, who is nasty to just about everyone. Fiona makes other discoveries that push the story—and the mystery—along. Her theories turn out to be truths.

She’s also investigating her past.—her father’s connections—to see if she can shed any light on the first two years of her life. Solving this particular mystery may have answers to why she was stricken with Cotard’s as a teenager.

The characters herein have depth and unquestionable humanity. DI Watkins finds herself acting differently around Griffiths as the novel progresses, which leads to an unexpected moment. Her fellow officer and boyfriend becomes understanding and sympathetic as he learns more and more about Fiona’s personality quirks. A professional killer connects with Fiona on a deeper level than expected, but before professionalism ultimately sets in.

Author Harry Bingham writes with a voice that summons Raymond Chandler, but also Stieg Larsson, for Fiona is not unlike Lisbeth Salander, an intelligent young woman who is "profoundly damaged" and socially abnormal.

As of now, there are only six books in the series, with the last one written back in 2017. Bingham says that he is working on the seventh, and, hopefully, I’ll get to read it once I’ve completed the rest of the series.

I highly, highly recommend this book, as well as the series.