Transgression by Roger Simpson

Publisher's Synopsis

Four unsolved murders. A killer with no motive. Only one woman can stop them. Forensic psychiatrist Jane Halifax is about to embark on the most challenging – and chilling – case of her career.

The first murder is brazen, violent and ritualistic. Committed in the victim’s home, the killer leaves few clues as to their motive or their identity. All the police know is that the perpetrator entered the house and impaled the art collector on one of his own priceless sculptures before melting away into the night.

Inspector Eric Ringer is desperate for Dr Jane Halifax to profile the killer, but Jane is cautious. She and Eric have a past … plus, she hates these kinds of cases; a psychopath is a psychopath, any way you slice it.

But there’s something about this killer that intrigues Jane. And as the bodies pile up, Jane must use all her knowledge and intuition to enter the mind of the murderer before they strike again.

My Review of Transgression by Roger Simpson

Jane Halifax is a forensic psychiatrist working with the Victorian police department. She’s called in to help with what looks like the ritualistic murder of a local billionaire businessman. It turns out this particular murder would only be the first in an investigation that would head for the bizarre end of the spectrum in spectacular fashion.

The lead detective is Inspector Eric Ringer, a man with whom Jane has shared a brief relationship many years earlier. While he’s an extremely competent detective, she’s not quite comfortable with the prospect of working closely with him and she chooses to maintain a strictly professional manner whenever they’re together. At first.

As well as providing her criminal profiling input, a science she admits is treated more as witchcraft, she also provides a sensible voice of reason to just about every conversation. More often than not she has the ability to connect with suspects, witnesses and even ornery commissioners intent on ripping police staff a new one after things don’t go well.

Medieval torture methods are used in each of the murders indicating quite a bit of planning before being carried out. The descriptions of each of these deaths are not for the squeamish with some, shall we say, imaginative techniques employed to ensure death was slow and painful.

Interestingly, we learn the name of the murderer quite early on in the piece. He’s an ex-prisoner who has jumped his parole conditions and disappeared. The story then becomes a frantic hunt for the killer who, it turns out, has an innate talent for acting and has the ability to take on any persona he chooses to. Through his tendency to transform himself he can move undetected around the city, picking off more victims as he goes.

But there are numerous aspects about their suspect that don’t make sense to Jane and this nags at her constantly as the case drags on. The victims he’s targeting, the link to the Catholic church, the way he’s carrying out the murders all just seem wrong to her. All of this adds even greater interest to the story and drives the narrative at a solid clip.

The strong point of the book is the police work, in conjunction with Jane’s input, that demonstrates solid deductive reasoning. You’ve got the usual technical expert who digs up important info online, there’s the jovial prankster who revels in his political incorrectness but comes up with some keen insights to progress the investigation and you’ve got a driven team leader who’s prepared to let his team run with their intuition.

It all adds up to a fast moving thriller that quickly ramps up the tension before busting loose in a blaze of terrifying glory. The twists and turns are nicely camouflaged and deftly dealt with to provide maximum impact.

Whereas the usual progression is for books to be adapted to the screen, this bucks the trend with the successful Australian TV series Halifax fp (with Roger Simpson writing the screenplay) coming first. I confess I’ve never watched an episode of the show but, if Transgression is anything to go by, I can understand its popularity at the time. This was thoroughly absorbing and Halifax herself is an extremely interesting principal character.

Reviews From Other Sites

GoodReads

What an explosive story it was! Not for the squeamish however as there are some brutal depictions of torture. But the story had some subtlety as Jane, acting as a consultant to the police, always thought there was more to the perpetrator’s motives than sheer sadism. And so it was. It was a gruelling investigation that took a toll on all involved. The man they were chasing was a talented actor and chameleon who was almost impossible to pin down. Read All Reviews

Amazon

While rather ghoulish at times as we are confronted with the gruesome details of each crime scene, we can’t help but be in awe of the author’s ability to paint pictures with his prose, making you feel as though you are standing alongside Jane as she takes in each intricate detail of the horrific crime scene.

A fantastic book debut – I can’t wait until next year for the second instalment. Sorry, no spoilers here, you’ll just have to read it yourself! I recommend that you do. Read All Reviews

Debbish

Even though I’d not seen the TV show on which this is based for many years there’s a familiarity here. Not only with Simpson’s prose, but he obviously knows  his characters and content. The latter is a little macabre and some of the murders (and accompanying torture) not for the faint-hearted…. or those who are particularly visual (which thankfully I’m not).

I enjoyed spending time with the always-pragmatic Jane; the complex relationships she has with the police and her inability to ‘switch off’. And even though I’m not visual and wasn’t picturing what was happening, it felt like I was being taken along here, joining the investigation so Simpson has the talent of placing readers ‘there’ amongst the thick of the action.

I liked part of the way this plays out but didn’t really ‘buy’ the final whodunnit or twist. I’d actually envisaged it being someone else. Someone I can’t mention – who’s referred to only briefly as having come into the life of a suspect – who felt like they’d be a better fit for the depth of passion and revenge to drive these crimes. Read Full Review 

Aust Crime Fiction

I don't quite know what I think about this novel in so many ways. Love this character, wasn't convinced by this invocation though. Well and truly unconvinced by the mad bad serial killer thing, and the resolution here sort of felt all a bit "and in the next episode". Having said all of that I'd not be at all surprised to find myself on the losing side of an argument about this one - it's a book that's going to work for many many readers. Read Full Review