I would like to thank Anne from Random Things Tours and Penguin for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher - Penguin

Published - 24/11

Price - £9.99 paperback £3.99 kindle ebook

He doesn't just want your identity. He wants your life...

No one sees him coming.
A stock-market trader is pushed from a high-rise balcony and falls to his death on the street below. The only clue the police can find is a box of matches.

No one survives for long.
The decomposing body of a member of the Saudi Royal Family is discovered in a car. Evidence suggests the killer took the man's life, then stole his identity, wore his clothes and lived in his hotel room - before vanishing into thin air like smoke.

Nothing but matchsticks are left behind.
Dr Bloom realizes the only thing linking these murders is a trail of burnt matches and broken lives. Time is running out - and if she isn't careful, she might be the next to burn ...

I looked at the first of the good Dr Bloom thrillers in Gone via https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2019/11/5/t5vnecgkljiftugho6nute00q6wbd3?rq=gone

The psychopath is a long standing attraction for thrillers. A true fox among the henhouse of humanity. It’s our admiration for an apex predator and how someone could be so inhuman in plain sight. They’re a villain with trademark cunning and deceitfulness and in some ways thriller’s answer to vampires often stylish but deadly. Leona Deakin’s Dr Bloom series has had their central psychologist battling many of these and in the fourth instalment; the interesting The Imposter she finds several now have her in her sights.

Dr Bloom is called in by the police after a series of unusual murders focused on the rich and powerful. Each crime scene has an unusual burnt match motif. The police suspect it to be Dr Bloom’s ex patient Seraphine who has assembled a secret group of fellow psychopaths for reasons unknown. Dr Bloom is unconvinced this fits Seraphine’s usual style. She asks her former MI5 colleague Jameson to investigate. However the duo find themselves now under observation; multiple games are being played and even Dr Bloom is now under suspicion.

What I enjoyed about The Imposter is that clearly since the first book Deakin has created their own hyper-reality. This is world of high flying secret feuding psychopath guilds; strange well planned yet brutal murders and a lot of reveals. Deakin gently brings the reader up to date on the previous books without excessive info dumping which I appreciated! The core mystery is an unusual one and as we unpick it we have two plot lines. What drives this particular set of murders and then what is more the series overarching plot. Deakin plays it smartly as to how connected these are.

Character wise Bloom and Jameson are the solid people doing the right thing for the right reasons. Deakin gets to separate them into their plot lines so Deakin meets quite a few of Seraphine’s special groups in a fast paced trip round European centres of power. This underlined the stylish psychopath mystery but also raises questions as to exactly what is Seraphine’s aim. Is she pure evil or something else. Bloom’s psychological analysis helps unpick several mysteries but opens more up

For Jameson it good honest detective work chasing leads and getting into danger. We meet a rogue former govt minister who is a psychopath and in no way at all does he resemble a former PM….none(ish) slowly the plots combine again for the finales but it’s always delivered with action and adventure.

Overall this thriller delivers exactly what want for an entertaining read - interesting characters plot and action albeit one in its own universe of global schemers and killers rather than too much to say about our own world. This was a solid entry into the series and suggests major revelations are to come that may put the duo to the test. An entertaining read and worth a look.