4.5 (2 ratings)
The Jigsaw Man: A Novel (The Inspector Angelica Henley Thrillers) (Inspector Anjelica Henley Thrillers)
A serial killer and his copycat are locked in a violent game of cat and mouse. Can DI Angelica Henley stop them before it’s too late?
On the day she returns to active duty with the Serial Crimes Unit, Detective Inspector Angelica Henley is called to a crime scene. Dismembered body parts from two victims have been found by the river.
The modus operandi bears a striking resemblance to Peter Olivier, the notorious Jigsaw Killer, who has spent the past two years behind bars. When he learns that someone is co-opting his grisly signature—the arrangement of victims’ limbs in puzzle-piece shapes—he decides to take matters into his own hands.
As the body count rises, DI Angelica Henley is faced with an unspeakable new threat. Can she apprehend the copycat killer before Olivier finds a way to get to him first? Or will she herself become the next victim?
Drawing on her experience as a criminal attorney, debut novelist Nadine Matheson delivers the page-turning crime novel of the year. Taut, vivid and addictively sinister, The Jigsaw Man will leave you breathless until the very last page.
On the day she returns to active duty with the Serial Crimes Unit, Detective Inspector Angelica Henley is called to a crime scene. Dismembered body parts from two victims have been found by the river.
The modus operandi bears a striking resemblance to Peter Olivier, the notorious Jigsaw Killer, who has spent the past two years behind bars. When he learns that someone is co-opting his grisly signature—the arrangement of victims’ limbs in puzzle-piece shapes—he decides to take matters into his own hands.
As the body count rises, DI Angelica Henley is faced with an unspeakable new threat. Can she apprehend the copycat killer before Olivier finds a way to get to him first? Or will she herself become the next victim?
Drawing on her experience as a criminal attorney, debut novelist Nadine Matheson delivers the page-turning crime novel of the year. Taut, vivid and addictively sinister, The Jigsaw Man will leave you breathless until the very last page.
Published: March 16, 2021
Pages: 1
ISBN: 9781799959694
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4.5
2 ratings
Matt D.
Sep 3, 2026
This book was intense! Short chapters. Big characters. Lots of gore. Yes please! I will need to grab book 2 now!
Charlene M.
Aug 15, 2026
This book was popping up all over my online book clubs so when I saw it at Coles, I added it to my monthly haul. Overall, it's a gripping read and can be quite gory, so beware!
What I loved: A fantastic villain and Roumener (MCs trainee) was a great character. It's a gripping read, most of thre way, and has the right level of gore to be murderous. It was easy to picture a lot of it too.
What I wish?
What is *with* police novels and spouses? Either they are invisible, nonexistent or pointless asses. Henley's husband fell in the latter category. This really irritates me because he spent most of his "time on stage" whining to Henley and demanding she choose between her career and him and their daughter.
Dude, you *married a cop*. Even I know cops have weird hours, a dangeous job that they mostly cannot talk much about and stand a good chance of getting hurt. If this isn't something one can cope with, don't marry one! This is like me whining about my archaeologist husband being gone for 2-4 weeks at a time. Comes with the territory.
In this case, Rob (husband) contributed *nothing* meaningful to the narrative. We know damn well she's not going to give up the case, so his whining was irritating and pointless. (At no point did Henley seriously consider walking away so it didn't contribute a thing to pushing the narrative)
For once in these books, I would like to see a supportive, smart spouse a la White Collar.
The other issue I took with this was Henley herself. She suffers from what my sister referred to as "trauma porn" - ie, every bad thing you can imagine happening to a character happened to her, either in the book or in her background:
Dead mom
Highly depressed dad
Whiny unsupportive spouse who regularly delivered ultimatums and then took their daughter away to stay with his pain in the butt mother.
Molested
Stabbed
PTSD from said molestation and stabbing
After a while, you kinda half hope that Olivier puts her out of her misery! Which is not a good thing to hope for.
Plus she had an affair with her supervisor who also seemed to spend a lot of time telling her she didn't have a case.
So bad things compounded by bad decisions and surrounded largely by unsupportive people she is having relationships with anyway.
Ok I'm done with my wtf moment.
I do want to read the second book because, MC issues aside, I really liked several of the other characters (more Ezra please!), the books are very visceral, and her depictions of things like PTSD were very realistic. Plus POC characters are not very common and it was nice to see. I also would like to see more of the relationship between Roumener and his wife (who suffers from early onset dementia) because it makes a good antidote to Hanley's relationship dramas.
What I loved: A fantastic villain and Roumener (MCs trainee) was a great character. It's a gripping read, most of thre way, and has the right level of gore to be murderous. It was easy to picture a lot of it too.
What I wish?
What is *with* police novels and spouses? Either they are invisible, nonexistent or pointless asses. Henley's husband fell in the latter category. This really irritates me because he spent most of his "time on stage" whining to Henley and demanding she choose between her career and him and their daughter.
Dude, you *married a cop*. Even I know cops have weird hours, a dangeous job that they mostly cannot talk much about and stand a good chance of getting hurt. If this isn't something one can cope with, don't marry one! This is like me whining about my archaeologist husband being gone for 2-4 weeks at a time. Comes with the territory.
In this case, Rob (husband) contributed *nothing* meaningful to the narrative. We know damn well she's not going to give up the case, so his whining was irritating and pointless. (At no point did Henley seriously consider walking away so it didn't contribute a thing to pushing the narrative)
For once in these books, I would like to see a supportive, smart spouse a la White Collar.
The other issue I took with this was Henley herself. She suffers from what my sister referred to as "trauma porn" - ie, every bad thing you can imagine happening to a character happened to her, either in the book or in her background:
Dead mom
Highly depressed dad
Whiny unsupportive spouse who regularly delivered ultimatums and then took their daughter away to stay with his pain in the butt mother.
Molested
Stabbed
PTSD from said molestation and stabbing
After a while, you kinda half hope that Olivier puts her out of her misery! Which is not a good thing to hope for.
Plus she had an affair with her supervisor who also seemed to spend a lot of time telling her she didn't have a case.
So bad things compounded by bad decisions and surrounded largely by unsupportive people she is having relationships with anyway.
Ok I'm done with my wtf moment.
I do want to read the second book because, MC issues aside, I really liked several of the other characters (more Ezra please!), the books are very visceral, and her depictions of things like PTSD were very realistic. Plus POC characters are not very common and it was nice to see. I also would like to see more of the relationship between Roumener and his wife (who suffers from early onset dementia) because it makes a good antidote to Hanley's relationship dramas.