A woman's corpse is found in Hadrian's Wall by Colin, a seemingly innocent walker. It's the corpse of Amy. It's been there 10 years or so. The obvious culprit is a serial killer, Edwards, who's in prison and had killed the detective's sister, Natalie. Next day a fresh corpse is found in the same place. Clare - a pentagram cut on her torso. The method of death is just like Edwards' methhod.
There's some conflict between the archaeologist and police CSIs.
The detective, Ryan, mid-thirties, has a partner in her mid-late twenties, Anna, an academic historian. They met in the previous book on Holy Island where they were other satanic murders by a cult circle. Via a nightmare we learn about a scene years before with Ryan (paralysed by drugs), Natalie (tied up), and Edwards (about to kill). Because of this incident, Ryan's told to visit Donovan, an amiable therapist that other police staff visit too.
We learn that the head of police, Gregson, belongs to the circle, but who else does? A policeman, Jack, has been in a coma since the last book. When he wakes, he recalls that a fellow policeman (Gregson we presume) is a cult member, which worries him.
Colin lives nearly opposite Clare's house, caring for his disabled mother. Clare was a waitress at a diner owned by a member of a well-known underworld family. Colin had pestered her.
Pinter is the coroner He sometimes speaks off the record to certain police friends.
Anna could be the next victim (because she's known to Ryan, young, brunette and pretty). She is indeed being watched and photographed.
Phillips, Ryan's side-kick, is quite a jolly character. He's going out with fellow detective, MacEnzie.
We learn that Colin admires Edwards, and has sent him letters. In return, Edwards sent him a postcard of where the bodies would be found.
A female jeweller acts suspiciously. She'd sold 10 bracelets of the same type to one man who she says looked like Edwards, the same type of bracelet that was on Amy.
A man has a stash of memorabilia of his murders. He has one bracelet left of a bunch he'd once bought.
Colin does a runner. His mother is killed
Ryan involves MacEnzie in a secret, dangerous plan to ensnare somebody, not telling his boss about it. He suspects there's a mole. In the end the therapist is apprehended. The ending goes on longer than it needs to. Gregson publically shames Ryan.
In some sections the protagonists are unnamed. This can be a problem in an audio book like this one where the performer uses several voices to distinguish the characters.
Other reviews
- Goodreads
- Jen Med (He is a man you can absolutely root for, more so here than ever before. He has a reserved, upper-middle class humour, very dry, but when partnered with Frank Phillips, it just seems to work. As for Phillips – well I think I’m starting to love that old DS)
- Karen Brooks (The dreaded Circle and its members are also fleshed out, though I confess there were times I found my disbelief stretched almost to breaking point. While the Mills and Boonish air of the first book has, thankfully, dissipated in this one, there is still the sense that everyone is so bloody beautiful, they’ve been cast by a US modelling firm. Only some of the villains seem to bear any ordinariness in their physical characteristics.)
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