Review by Ian Keogh

At just ten chapters over two volumes Serial is a relatively short enterprise for Terry Moore, but as imaginative as ever and featuring his incredibly beguiling art.

The Glass Tomb introduced serial killer Jenni who doesn’t just kill adulterous men, but their wives for being stupid enough to have married them in the first place. What she doesn’t know is that she’s drawn the attention of Zoe, the fifty year old woman in the body of a ten year old who’s also a killer, and now on Jenni’s trail, hence the Cat and Mouse of the title.

Via showing how much a dog has grown Moore gives a subtle indication of passing time, and this volume begins with another death. The twist is this time it’s someone who’d rank far higher on the scale of evil than someone cheating on their wife, and it’s actually a rescue mission. It’s a clever piece of plotting, and Moore realistically nails the reactions of everyone else involved.

It’s a technique continued throughout. While Jenni’s actions sustain the plot, so have an element of mystery about them, at least for a while, Moore ensures we know why everyone else is doing what they do. It’s fully worked out to the high standards of crime fiction with the ending of every chapter a surprise. Things are so meticulously calculated that Moore makes enough time for a two chapter finale, and as he works on separate projects despite occasionally revisiting characters, the ending is by no means certain. When it arrives, it’s great. This is so good the advice is to head straight for the Serial Omnibus combining both paperbacks, especially as the physical edition of this volume seems to have dropped out of print.