Greenwich, south-east London. The Met's crack murder squad is called out by CID detectives to a grim discovery. Five bodies, all young women, are ritualistically murdered and dumped. Post mortems reveal a most dangerous sexual serial killer on the loose.
This was a series recommended to me by my mother-in-law, and this first entry doesn’t disappoint. Hayder writes on the darker side of crime fiction, and this book is full of messed up people. Not the least of which is lead detective Jack Caffrey, who carries around a truckload of guilt stemming from the disappearance of his brother when they were children, and who is punishing himself by staying in an unfulfilling, manipulative relationship and nursing an obsession with his backyard neighbor.
Also quite messed up is our antagonist, whose point of view we see often, letting us into the horror of his thinking. Hayder does a good job of making us think we have it all figured out before pulling the rug out from beneath us.
This was a solid thriller, and I’ll definitely pick up more of the series.
