The Binding Room by Nadine Matheson

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I’ve always loved reading, however for a long time I was unable to work out how to make reading work for me anymore. This was due to my Keratoconus, probably clashing with my dyslexia, and meaning I just couldn’t read quite like I used to. The move from books to audiobooks was hard, however, just over a year ago I learnt that as long as I sped up audiobooks I was able to enjoy them once again. Now I have a huge wishlist on Audible and earlier this year I added to it The Binding Room by Nadine Matheson.

So when I was contacted by a PR company asking if I would be interested in sharing this book with you I had to say yes.

Nadine Matheson

Living in London, Nadine Matheson is a criminal solicitor. However, she has long had a passion for writing, in 2016, she won the City University Crime Writing Competition and completed the Creative Writing Master’s Degree with distinction in 2018.

2019 saw Nadine signed by A.M. Heath Literary Agents with her debut crime fiction novel The Jigsaw Man released in 2021. The book was won by HQ (HarperCollins) in a six-publisher auction and has since been translated into 15 languages and optioned for TV.

March 2022, saw another two-book deal agreed with HQ in the UK and Commonwealth and Hanover Square Press in North America. July 2022 saw the second book in the series The Binding Room published, which continues to follow D.I. Henley and the Serial Crimes Unit.

The Binding Room

Just to preface this, I bought The Jigsaw Man and The Binding Room on audible myself. The book used for photographs will be given away towards the end of this post.

If you can, I would suggest reading The Jigsaw Man before The Binding Room, like many crime books you can jump in and out as the case is different. However, these books do focus a lot on the relationships between characters and I feel for the second book to make complete sense within those inwoven developments you need to read the first book first, that is without the nods back to the crime we follow in it and the effect that has on the team.

That said I would say I didn’t enjoy The Jigsaw Man as much, I felt like there was a lot going on between the character development and a huge crime to solve. I have actually wondered if I picked up The Jigsaw Man without really wanting to read The Binding Room and complete this post,  would I have progressed to The Binding Room? That said I really enjoyed The Binding Room which I felt flowed better, offering a more even balance between crime and relationship building.

What Is The Binding Room About?

Now I don’t want to give away too much, however this book does get dark.

A local pastor is found stabbed 48 times in his church, yet as D.I. Henley accesses the scene she finds a hidden room. Inside is a room set up for torture and a man bound to a bed barely alive. Then another body is found bound and tortured and it becomes clear that a serial killer is on the loose.

However, these victims seem to have nothing in common, they didn’t know each other. So what is the link and why are they being killed in such a way? And what could a pastor with a seemingly close knit community around him have to do with such heinous crimes?

Warning: This book included topics such as torture, kidnap, mental illness, and corruption within the Christian church. Some of the scenes are pretty descriptive so I would steer clear if these topics aren’t for you.

My Personal Thoughts

As I said previously I really liked The Binding Room, I actually gave it 5 out of 5 stars on my Goodreads, while The Jigsaw Man for me was a 3 out of 5. I really like how layered and complex the main character D.I. Anjelica Henley is, as well as her partner Ramouter who is away from his family and struggling.

The book is a mix of crime thriller and police procedural and tackles issues head on such as racism which is experienced both by Henley and Ramouter, and political pressure from a local MP.

Personally, I cannot wait to see what the next book has to offer now as I am sure it will be incredible.

You can pick The Jigsaw Man up on Audible, for a credit, while it is free on Prime Kindle and comes in at £5.99 for a paperback copy at Amazon. The Binding Room is also available on Audible, while it comes in at £2.99 for Kindle or £4.50 for a paperback copy at Amazon. Do also check out Nadine Matheson’s website for more information on her and her books.

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