Clara’s Verdict
British police procedurals live and die by their central pairing, and Sally Rigby has constructed something pleasingly friction-filled in DCI Whitney Walker and forensic psychologist Dr Georgina Cavendish. Deadly Games is the opening book in the Cavendish & Walker series, and it does what a good series opener must: it makes you want more before the final chapter has finished. The premise – a killer targeting female students on a university campus, a detective under professional pressure not to fail again, an academic who thinks she knows better than the police – is familiar territory in British crime fiction, but Rigby executes it with enough pace and enough character work to elevate it above the genre average.
Clare Corbett is one of the finest voices in British crime fiction narration, and her involvement here is a significant mark in the audiobook’s favour before a word is spoken.
About the Audiobook
DCI Whitney Walker is on thin ice professionally. Another botched case and she faces demotion – so the murders of female students at a local university arrive at the worst and best possible time. It is her chance to prove herself, if she can just keep a lid on her own stubbornness long enough to accept help from an unexpected quarter.
That help comes from Dr Georgina Cavendish, a forensic psychologist whose connection to the case is personal – one of the victims is her student. The tension between Walker’s boots-on-the-ground policing instincts and Cavendish’s academic frameworks generates the book’s best scenes, and Rigby is too intelligent a writer to let either woman be simply right. Walker’s real-world experience matters; Cavendish’s theoretical rigour matters. The clashes between them are productive rather than merely comedic, and that seriousness of purpose gives the partnership genuine weight.
The killer’s POV chapters, which some reviewers found less essential than others, create a secondary narrative thread designed to ratchet up the dread as the investigation closes in. At 7 hours and 29 minutes, the audiobook moves at a brisk clip without sacrificing character development. This is Book 1 of the Cavendish & Walker series – the ideal starting point for what readers consistently describe as a rewarding long-run series.
The Narration
Clare Corbett is the narrator, and she is an exceptional choice. An award-winning audiobook performer with a gift for procedural fiction and complex female characters, Corbett brings both the brittle determination of Whitney Walker and the somewhat superior composure of Dr Cavendish to life with real authority. The distinction between the two women – one street-smart and abrasive, one precise and cerebral – is maintained consistently throughout, which is no small achievement across seven-and-a-half hours. The supporting cast, including the wider police team and the academic environment, is rendered with sufficient variety to keep the world feeling populated. Corbett’s pacing during the tenser sequences is particularly well-handled, building pressure without resorting to theatrical flourishes.
What Readers Say
UK listeners have rated Deadly Games 4.3 out of 5 on Audible. The general response is warm, with several reviewers noting that the dynamic between Walker and Cavendish is the book’s strongest element and that the characters develop convincingly across the narrative arc. One reader described it as “a totally excellent read” and noted it had prompted them to seek out earlier entries in the series – specifically working backwards after starting with Death Track, the third book, and finding themselves wanting to read the series in order. Another praised the “fast-paced and interesting” plotting with “good twists.”
Some dissenting voices found the supporting police team underdeveloped and the plot occasionally implausible – fair observations for a first novel in a new series. One reader noted that Walker, the professional detective, is sometimes outshone by Cavendish, the academic, in a way that strains plausibility. The consensus, however, is that the series premise is strong enough to warrant continuing, and multiple readers confirmed they returned for subsequent instalments.
Who Should Listen?
Fans of Lynda La Plante, Ann Cleeves, or any British crime series built around two mismatched women slowly developing professional respect for one another will feel at home here. Deadly Games is particularly well-suited to listeners who enjoy procedurals with a psychological bent – the forensic psychology angle gives it a distinctive flavour from straight detective fiction and rewards listeners who enjoy understanding the criminal mind as well as catching the criminal. If you enjoy Clare Corbett’s narration, this is a very satisfying eight hours, with many more to follow in the series.
