Title:	A Kiss Before Killing
	Author:	Keith McCarthy
	Published:	September 7, 2017, Endeavour Ink
	Cover Price:	$8.27 Paperback, $.99 Kindle

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John Eisenmenger is back as the protagonist in A Kiss Before Killing by Keith McCarthy. In this medical/police procedural thriller, he is paired with Beverley Wharton, a former lover, who brings a new sergeant into the picture, Tom Bayes. The case begins when Beverley requests Eisenmenger to do the autopsy on a prison inmate who is suspected of committing suicide. The suicide doesn’t make sense, since the inmate was dying anyway, and when Eisenmenger and Wharton begin to look closer into the death, they discover that there are numerous deaths happening at the hospital that are suspicious. Dr. Claire Woodforde who is trying to bring attention to this, is written off as crazy and is in danger of losing her job.

During the investigation they discover several bodies that are missing heads, and limbs, which are very difficult to identify. As the body count stacks up, Eisenmenger and Wharton rush to solve the murders before even more murders occur.

A Kiss Before Killing is presented as a standalone novel, albeit the characters are the same as in McCarthy’s other novels. It would have been nice to know this, as many readers would have probably read some of the previous novels to get the background and history of the main characters. As it is, this standalone version has enough information to make the book intriguing, but to fans of McCarthy’s writing, it would have been helpful. As it is, the book is quite well-written and the characters are well-developed. McCarthy tells the story well, and is able to build suspense from the beginning up to the very end. The novel is filled with plenty of violence and blood and guts, so it really isn’t suitable for young readers or for those who are sensitive.

The book is quite short, so it can be a fast read, and fans of McCarthy will want to pick it up. The setting is in the UK, which adds some charm, and makes the story a bit different from the norm.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.