Dark Truths (A Will Traynor forensic mystery)

by A.J. Cross

Introducing criminologist Will Traynor in the first of a gripping new forensic mystery series from an expert in the field.

When a headless body is discovered on a popular jogging trail, Detective Inspector Bernard Watts and his team are plunged headlong into a baffling murder investigation. Why would someone stab to death a young woman on her daily run - and take her head? When a close examination of the crime scene results in a shocking discovery linking the present murder to a past crime, criminologist Will Traynor is brought in to assist the police.

Aware of Traynor's troubled past and already having to deal with inexperienced rookie PC Chloe Judd on his team, Watts is sceptical that Traynor will bring anything useful to the investigation. He's about to be proved very wrong ...

• ISBN10: 1780296452
• ISBN13: 9781780296456
• Publish Date: 30 September 2020 (first published 30 September 2019)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd
• Imprint: Severn House
• Edition: Main
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 240
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Dark Truths is a series police procedural by A. J. Cross. Released 4th Feb. 2021 by Black Thorn, it's 352 pages (print edition) and available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a very well written, taut, and engaging procedural with a nicely balanced cast of characters: detectives (one experienced and cynical and one completely green and full of enthusiasm), a forensic expert battling his own violent loss, and the whole apparatus which comes into play after violent death. The first death in the book is grisly; a stabbing and beheading which exposes yet another murder in the same location.

The disparate plot threads wind ever more closely and the resolution is clever and very well engineered. The entire read is finely rendered and surprising. I didn't manage to figure everything out despite being given all the information along the way. I'm impressed and will be looking forward to more from this author.

Four stars. This would be a great selection for fans of the genre, possibly also book-clubs and library acquisition.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.