Good Girl, Bad Girl (Cyrus Haven)

by Michael Robotham

I really enjoyed this. It was the perfect mix of suspense and mystery and character backstories. I loved Evie and Cyrus. Evie was intense. She's prickly and guarded and a complete mess. She makes some dumb decisions and she screws up like any teenager. She's used to looking after herself but she also hasn't had to make her way in the world before, so it's interesting to see how she adjusts. She is a lot like Lisbeth Salander (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) but she's not a younger clone. Unlike Lisbeth, Evie has experienced both sides of the coin - pain and suffering, love and protection. She's more open to both, even if she doesn't trust easily. Evie was a lot more human.

Cyrus was interesting. I was fascinated by him. Although he's suffered, he also had a good childhood up until the murder of his family. I liked that he saw something of a kindred spirit in Evie. The relationship between them was strange as both tried to find their footing. But I really enjoyed how they worked together to solve the crime.

The crime itself was good. I liked how it all unfolded. I loved Lenny (the chief policewoman who rescued Cyrus as a child). I wish we had of got to see more of her. The mystery was somewhat predictable as the clues unfolded but there were a few surprises. This is much more a character driven story than plot, but the mixture of the two really worked for me.

I can't wait to read the next one and I was excited to find out that there will even be a third book in the series. That's how much I loved it. 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5.