I need to talk about Maeve Kerrigan - includes The Secret Room[SPOILERS] *Title edited by MNHQ*

[Zitouna]

Following recommendations from on here I’ve just read the whole Maeve Kerrigan series by Jane Casey over the Christmas holidays, and need to talk about my latest obsession!

has anyone else read them all? Happy to try and discuss without spoilers if people haven’t. They are basically brilliant police procedurals with a lot of character-driven background stuff - there are 10 main books, plus a few shorter spin offs set in the same world. The next one is out in March and I’d like to fill the gap with chat if possible!

Thoughts/predictions from me: Hoping beyond hope that the relationship stuff is resolved at least a bit in the next one, but predict more angst before it is. It might sort of ‘end’ the series - but then Casey could continue a series of the spin offs instead.

I had a question on chronology if anyone has read them all- wondering whether The Outsider (Rob spin off) is supposed to come before or after The Close? I think it matters for the relationship arc, and I can’t decide!

Very satisfying!

Can somebody tell me where this falls in the timeline because I keep confusing myself?

It’s in parallel with the Stranger in The Family book - so more detail around the scenes at the end of that.

This is because I read them really fast and close together, but I thought ASITF ended with Maeve's Dad ringing and saying it's Josh and the book where she went missing for hours was before that. I've completely muddled myself.

Mmmm. I've read it twice now and I'm still not sure about it. My gut reaction is that I'm disappointed, which I hate saying because I love the books and previous short stories SO much.

I guess I was hoping it would be romantic somehow - a bit like Lost Time - but it felt more angry and angsty. What Josh said on the conference call was much less than I was expecting. And I really didn't recognise this version of Liv at all - although now I'm starting to feel a bit sorry for her after giving it more time.

Maybe it will all make sense after The Secret Room - I still have no idea how Maeve and Josh's situation is going to resolve itself.

I think I need to reread ASITF to see how/where it fits in.

I’m with you @Atlantic252 . Was Definitely disappointed compared to the absolute sugar rush of the previous two short stories. On first reading - was mostly really annoyed at what felt like totally bonkers interference from Liv, and just wanted things to move on romantically. Very much not what I was expecting.

BUT on third reading, started to think that actually we haven’t seen much of Liv’s interior life before - and while it wasn’t what I imagined, it does make sense/is consostent with what we have seen of Liv before. And sort of illustrates what is behind a lot of Josh’s angst.

Am keeping my fingers crossed for some resolution without angst in the next one!

I agree, I was also slightly disappointed. I think as it was released on Valentine's Day I was expecting a bit more of a Meave/Josh encounter. This felt more about Liv and whilst nice to have a glimpse of her feelings it wasn't the hit I was hoping for!

Are you seeing this as Liv trying to protect Maeve, or that Liv has developed romantic feelings towards her herself ? As that is a new angle.

Hm so I think it gave more hinterland to Liv - in that she had wondered if she had feelings for her (and rowed about it with her partner) but decided she didn’t. I think there’s a bit of jealousy, but it’s for maeve’s closeness with Josh and reliance on him (which, come to think of it, she hasn’t had with anyone else, friend or partner - she’s always been reserved). So Liv feels a bit shut out.

I thought she came across as a bit batshit - and was relieved that Georgia talked her down. But then also thought that slightly hysterical anxiety was a bit of a post-partum thing too (which is also hinted at in ASITF). It’s all a bit surprising as Liv seems very sane and cool/reasoning voice in all the other times we’ve seen her, so it’s surprising to see what lies behind it.

belated thought tho - does it mean that, at the point he came to find her, Josh had actually quit?! Wonder what that means for the next one…

pretty sure he just said I quit to make a point. I think a lot of motivation for Liv in the story is the horrendous feeling of guilt about what happened to Maeve (which was truly awful - I was shocked by it in the book) combined with jealousy about Josh. Her feelings about them both are more complicated than she’d been prepared to admit, which makes her more interesting. I liked the way Georgia makes her see sense at the end and the comment about Josh being ‘the right kind of wrong’!

I read it again this morning hoping it would grow on me, but it hasn't. I agree with everything you've all said - Liv seems completely loopy. And I don't understand yet why she's gone from teasing Maeve about Josh in The Cutting Place (and knowing how much he cared about Maeve re Seth) to seeming like she hates him here.

I'm completely team Georgia now, especially because of that comment @WendyWebersdrugget 🔥 And I don't feel comfortable at all about the idea of Liv fancying Maeve - I think it lessens their friendship somehow. But it is interesting to see from her perspective that Josh is Maeve's best friend, not her.

I'm also 99% sure Maeve walked to the car in ASITF. If Josh had carried her in his arms surely she would have mentioned it in the context of what was going on between them.

It hadn't occurred to me that Josh might have actually quit - it would have been good to hear how the call ended - but going on the synopsis of TSR I don't think he has.

Can you tell I am grumpy 🙄. V Day is not usually romantic in chez Atlantic so I was hoping Josh would fill the void 😂.

Maeve says something like I stopped to admire the way he’d parked across three spaces and then Josh says hop in, which doesn’t sound like he carried her. But maybe Maeve is deliberately ambiguous about what happened. Or Liv is more affected by the chloroform than she realises!

I think the walked / carried to the car discrepancy needs the eye of faith + artistic licence + Maeve being an unreliable narrator to make it slightly believable, because the book does make it easy to assume she walked....

I was glad we got a better idea of what the conference call involved but was also disappointed by the lack of romance!

Re Liv - I think she is mostly terrified Derwent will break Maeve's heart because he is still in a relationship with Melissa and really does need to "sort his life out" and he does also have/had a reputation for being a flirtatious grumpy womaniser! She just needs to read "Lost Time" to accept his true feelings and then maybe would be nicer to him!

That was quite a disappointment. Even if Liv's concern was about Maeve getting hurt, it just didn't make any sense how her character went from concerned in The Close to meddling in ASITF to downright irrational anger in this short story. There's no hint of anything that can explain this behavior. Besides, Maeve's been her best friend for several years by now and you're telling me she really doesn't believe Maeve can handle it? This short story didn't add anything to the storyline and seems like an afterthought. I've loved all the characters in this series, they're real people in my head..and the gloomy predictions that Maeve and Josh wouldn't work out is downright depressing. Why was this necessary? The fan base already knows that it's an uphill journey for both. Why JC? 😢🤢

I think the upside to that is by the end of the short story, Liv is feeling better at the prospect of not meddling in the situation. I’ll be very interested to see how that turns out in the next book. I also like the way in which no one has all the information at any one time. I suppose Josh has the most complete idea and is revealing the least? He is very cagey about what’s going on at home and it sounds as though Melissa’s mental health could be pretty fragile. So it’s not surprising the characters jump to conclusions or form opinions that can be quite wrong?

I keep hoping telling myself that Jane must have written it like this for a reason. We know she's super intelligent and her writing has been so clever with clues built into books years before they're referenced again.

But I still think that Liv is being unduly harsh on Josh - even though he's holding so much back. He was really nice to Joanne when Liv got stabbed, never mind the Seth stuff. It's bizarre.

So I am crossing my fingers that this will all make sense once we read TSR. Otherwise it is gloomy and doesn't even hold a candle to the previous stories.

On a side note, just finished The Kill in my re-read and I'd forgotten how much their relationship moved on in that book. I think Maeve really started to see him as a friend (and hot 😂). If filled the warm and fuzzy void 🥰

One month to publication day!!! I’m v excited but also want to savour it so much.

Would anyone like to speculate again about what they think will happen? I’ve no idea on the crime but it sounds v different and interesting.

I won’t speculate on what happened to Josh as I’ve read some reviews which were supposed to be non-spoilery but weren’t so I can easily guess 😠.

I do think Josh and Maeve will finally get together (nothing to do with the reviews) but I’m still a bit conflicted. I’ve loved how their relationship has developed but as I’m re-reading I’m still not sure he’s good enough for her (as he said himself) or whether they will really do well as a couple. I wonder will it happen late in the book though - but I hope we don’t have a load of angst again like ASITF.

And I very much hope they don’t rush straight into marriage or babies. I wonder if Georgia mentioning confetti in the short story was a clue 😳.

Its released on a Thursday and I’m seriously considering taking a day off work 😂

I’m planning to reread ASITF before the new one comes out to remind me where we are.

I both do and don’t want them to get together! I do because after setting it up for all this time it would be really disappointing to get no payoff - but if they do get together what happens then to the books? All the tension will have gone and we’ll have nothing to look forward to!

I reckon they’ll have a shag and then a massive misunderstanding that will keep them apart for a further five books.

Gutted it comes out a week after I get back from a holiday. I would've absolutely devoured this pool side

Brilliant - I would love if this happened 😂.

@ChessieFLI wonder about that too - but I’m (probably stupidly) hoping we’d see a lighter side of them both - fun, sexy but also more open with each other. But I remember Jane Casey saying something about never making life easy for Maeve 🙄.

But I have no idea how they’d be allowed to keep working together. If that stops we’d definitely lose so much of what makes them special ☹️.

So exciting that it’s only a month away!

I don’t think JC will do it, but what I LONG for is for them to get together and then revert to flirty bickers banter around their home life/relationship. Doesn’t bother me if they can’t work together, so long as we get some domestic vignettes, and a bit more back on the jokey vibe of their relationship before Maeve got angsty. Could then focus a bit more on the crime plot, separately!

this is wishful thinking tho, at best for book after the next one probably.

also strongly considering a day off 😂

I tried reading some of the last one at work - not a good idea! I’m really looking forward to this one and @FortunataTagnips that was my suspicion too! I think they might be more together than not together by the end of book 12 but I’m definitely expecting massive misunderstanding and confusion for most of it.

Did everyone see Jane’s story for April Fools 😁. Luckily I saw it late or I would have been traumatised, although I think I still need brain bleach 😳.

Also, a question. Currently re-reading The Close - in the scene where Maeve is in the Holmwood searching for Pippin and Josh rushes towards her after coming back from Melissa, I wasn’t clear on exactly what was about to happen before Steven Boulivant came along - was he (Josh not SB 😂) about to kiss her? I may have asked this before 🫣 but it’s always bothered me as I wished it wasn’t so vague. At the time I thought Maeve was making too much of it but now I’m not sure.