‘Hidden’, the second book written by Emma Kavanagh,

an ex-police psychologist, begins at the end – with a rather grisly scene of a multiple shooting in a Welsh hospital, described by “Charlie”, a reporter on a local paper. And it then goes backwards, though not necessarily straightforwardly: the main narrative, told from the perspective of different characters, starts six days earlier – as well as a few minutes before the actual shooting. And the final chapter is set two weeks after the shooting.
 

I found it took me a little while and some irritation to adjust to this zigzag effect, but once I did, it worked well enough. 

Ms Kavanagh certainly has the gift of telling a good story, and I became involved with the characters and swept along by the narrative. 

However I found the quality of the writing a little uneven, almost as if the author took time to find her voice; also she did not wear her psychologist credentials lightly. The cover suggested comparison with Nicci French and SJ Watson but I think that overstates a little, just at the present.

However, she held my attention, managed to deal with the rather difficult structure skilfully and is 

definitely someone to watch; I look forward to her next!