A Tony Hill/Carol Jordan Wire in the Blood mystery
Published: 2009
Someone is luring teenagers to their deaths; killing them quickly and then and mutilating them in the most horrifying manner. Someone who spends weeks online grooming them for their fate. Someone who knows what teens like.
Carol Jordan's team has been set up for this very type of case. However, just when they need profiler Tony Hill the most, Carol's new commander has placed a ban on him being used; budget cuts have to begin somewhere.
Meanwhile Tony is working on a case in a nearby county. One that he begins to suspect might be linked to Carol's.
In order to catch the killer the police have to work out how these kids are being selected and Tony Hill is just the man to do the job, but can he convince the powers that be to allow him back into Carol's case?
There are reasons why Val McDermid is one of the best in the business when it comes to writing crime fiction and they are all contained in FEVER OF THE BONE.
Tony, Carol and her team are all familiar but evolving characters. Characters you care about. Several different threads of the plot weave in and out of each other, changing emphasis at just the right time for maximum suspense.
FEVER OF THE BONE differs from many books featuring serial killers in that McDermid doesn't take you inside the killer's head and doesn't describe graphic violence.
It is a police procedural and one of the best I've read in a long time.
FEVER OF THE BONE is one of my top books of 2009 to date. It would take something very, very special to knock it off that list. I can't recommend it highly enough.
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4 comments:
Thanks for this review, Sunnie! I agree with you that really fine mystery novels don't need to be graphic. A good writer like McDermid can give readers the sense of terror and suspense without the gore. I'm glad this one was such a good experience for you.
I think McDermid is an excellent plotter, but earlier I have found her Jordan & Hill novels very graphic indeed. I have read them, but really felt I approached a limit I didn´t want to cross.
So if she has become less hard-boiled on that account, I think I will put this one on my list.
Sunnie-If you drop me an email when you're going to do a FB, I'll post the link. I would be so happy to have you anytime.
It's on my Fb We Read application which I think shows up on my FB page. not sure if it can be linked externally from that or not.
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