Unquiet Souls

by Liz Mistry

What is the link between the abduction of a little girl and a dead prostitute?When the body of a prostitute is found, followed by the discovery of children locked in an attic, DI Gus McGuire is handed the case. But what at first appears to be a simple murder soon turns into an international manhunt for the members of a twisted child trafficking ring.McGuire who is suffering with his own emotional problems, must pick his way through the web of deceit and uncover the truth in time before the body count rises.Can McGuire identify The Matchmaker before it's too late? And can he trust those he is working with?Unquiet Souls is the first book in a dark and compelling new police series.

• ISBN13: 9780995511156
• Publish Date: 30 July 2016
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 18 May 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Bloodhound Books
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 416
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Unquiet Souls is the first book in the DI Gus McGuire series. Originally published in 2016 by Bloodhound books, it's a hefty 416 pages and available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats.

This is a very gritty modern procedural thriller set in Bradford, in Northern England. The setting and atmosphere are very well written and the characterizations and dialogue and writing in general are very high quality. It's a well written book.

That being said, however, this is an extremely graphic book which I found difficult to read. I had to take breaks at several places. The plot revolves around an international pedophile ring. There are fairly graphic descriptions of sexual assault, torture, and murder of children (and adults). There is a completely awful description of neglect and abuse of a group of children which goes on for several pages and describes this group, some of whom are dead, being locked up together and abandoned .

The main characters are flawed and damaged. The lead character is doing everything in his power to circumvent the reasonable protections for police injured in the line of duty by trying to dodge his therapy and recovery work. I found him fairly unlikable, honestly. He has a gigantic chip on his shoulder. The fact that I personally found him not-terribly-relatable doesn't change the fact that this is a tightly plotted and well written book and the author clearly knows what she's doing. DI Gus McGuire doesn't need (or want) my approval.

The language is just about as raw as the subject matter would imply. The bad guys are world class nasty.

Four stars, it is well written, just not for those of us who prefer mysteries with more of a 'Colonel Mustard in the library' flavor, and murders without blood and gore. And cats. And possibly a few librarians or at least a bookmobile. Definitely not that kind of book, here.

Possibly worth noting for kindle unlimited subscribers, all of the books in the series are included in the subscription for download.

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