Sean French was born in May 1959 in Bristol, to a British father and Swedish mother. He too studied English Literature at Oxford University at the same time as Nicci, also graduating with a first class degree, but their paths didn't cross until 1990. In 1981 he won Vogue magazine's Writing Talent Contest, and from 1981 to 1986 he was their theatre critic. During that time he also worked at the Sunday Times as deputy literary editor and television critic, and was the film critic for Marie Claire and deputy editor of New Society.

If The Bridge’s Norén had been played by a man, everything would have changed: the moment when she walks up to a stranger in a bar, for instance, asking if he wants sex, would not give us the same frisson of discomfort and delight. A male would not have set us alight as Norén did with her social blindness, her brilliance, her role as truth-teller and, in the end, as the conscience of a drama that investigates the murky world of crime and exposes fault lines in society and in the self. The first novel to feature Frieda Klein, a solitary, sometimes stern, unmarried, childless woman in early middle-age who works as a psychoanalyst in London. Frieda is approached by an old schoolmate asking for help with her teenage daughter who has stopped eating and has become withdrawn. As a long-time fan of Nicci French novels I was delighted when my ‘in-person’ bookclub, Whodunit, selected “Blue Monday” as our group read for the month of September. One of her patients describes dreams of seizing a boy who is the spitting image of Matthew. Convinced at first the police will dismiss her fears out of hand, Frieda reluctantly finds herself drawn into the heart of the case. A previous abduction, from twenty years ago, suggests a new lead - one that only Frieda, an expert on the minds of disturbed individuals, can uncover.

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There’s no denying that Frieda is a bit of an odd character. She’s a loner who prefers long walks around London at night to socialising although over the last four books we’ve seen people shoehorn themselves into her lives: Josef, the Ukrainian builder, Sasha a woman who came to her as a patient being taken advantage of by her therapist, DCI Karlsson who first requested her help and the people she has time for, her niece Chloe and Chloe’s often incapable mother Olivia and Reuben, Frieda’s former supervisor and analyst. There’s also her on/off lover Sandy who disappears and reappears regularly depending on whether or not Frieda is comfortable with him at any given time. This book provides perhaps the most development of their relationship although that development is mostly puzzling. I'm not going to waste too much time on how this is such a good book and the characters, plot, pacing, setting etc etc are as good as always. I'll make an exception in writing a bit about Frieda, as even two people who know her well find it necessary to warn the investigating officer that Frieda is different. Her demeanor is usually taken as cold and indifferent by those who don't know her well, whereas first impressions could not be more wrong concerning Frieda. When a bloated corpse is found floating in the River Thames the police can at least sure that identifying the victim will be straightforward. Around the dead man's wrist is a hospital band. On it are the words Dr F. Klein . . . Rich in intrigue, intensity and atmosphere, Friday on my Mind is classic Nicci French - a dark, gripping and sophisticated masterclass in psychological suspense in which nothing is quite what it seems . . .

Ik verwacht bij deze serie een heerlijke spannende thriller. Uiteindelijk is het voornamelijk een drama, met was spannende stukjes. Zoals ook in het vorige deel, gaat het grootste stuk over het leven van Frieda. Aangezien ik niet zo weg ben van Frieda, of van welk karakter dan ook ik dit boek, komt het helemaal niet dichtbij en vind ik het dus ook minder leuk. A thought-provoking, fast-paced, well written thriller containing several twists and a surprise ending, this novel will appeal to fansFrieda’s personality does not lend itself well to this role and it becomes obvious to those who may be involved, what she is up to, which of course puts her in danger. Frieda Kline, a noted psychologist, now turned herself into a detective as well so she could find why Dean Reeve was after her and her family again. For example, Frieda is talking to a client who has witnessed violence and wishes there was a drug to make him forget: Something is horribly wrong. Tess is certain Poppy saw something—or something happened to her—that she’s too young to understand. Jason insists the weekend went off without a hitch. Doctors advise that Poppy may be reacting to her parents’ separation. And as the days go on, even Poppy’s disturbing memory seems to fade. I was never quite certain why he committed the first crimes he did. (I can’t say much without giving away Blue Monday‘s plot.) He feel more like an omnipresent “feeling” than a fully developed character like, say, Josef or Frieda or Karlsson. My other complaint is that s everal books revolve around deaths by hanging, which the police assume are suicides but turn out to be murders.

Sunday Morning Coming Down is the penultimate book in what has been overall a fantastic series. I haven't always liked Dr Klein with her closed off ways, but she's a character that has grown on me over time and I will miss her long hours of walking the streets of old London town. She has a lead: a previous abduction, from twenty years ago. One that only Frieda, an expert on the minds of disturbed individuals, can uncover. Nicci French, με πρωταγωνίστρια την ψυχαναλύτρια Φρίντα Κλάιν. Κάθε βιβλίο είναι μια μέρα της εβδομάδας (εννοείται πως δεν εξελίσσεται όλη η πλοκή σε μία μέρα) και στις μέρες αυτές βλέπουμε τις "περιπέτειες" -ας πούμε- της Φρίντα. Thursday’s Children is the fourth novel in the Frieda Klein psychological suspense series co-written by husband and wife team Nicci Gerard and Sean French. Given the titles of the novels, which all feature a day of the week, I guessed we’d be limited in the amount of novels this series would include. I found an old article saying there is expected to be 8 – one named for each day of the week and then a final novel to “bring resolution”.

Publication Order of Frieda Klein Books

Unfortunately this does not keep her friends and loved ones safe. I say friends and loved ones, but in Frieda's world they are one and the same. When her niece befriends Ruth Lennox's son, Ted, she finds herself in the difficult position of confidant to both Ted, and DCI Karlsson. A body under the floorboards, a body in a freezer, a drugged niece in a graveyard. Those things were the start of it. The other thing I couldn’t wrap my brain around was the relationship with Frieda’s mother, and the way Frieda behaved to some recurring characters that just did not make sense, and how some characters underwent lobotomies. Seriously, they changed so completely, I couldn’t understand it.