Just Finished Reading: A Dark and Twisted Tide by Sharon Bolton (FP: 2014)

London, Present Day. Lacey Flint is the newest member of the River Police patrolling the river Thames snaking its way through the heart of London. But she is far from a green recruit straight out of training. Lacey used to be a detective but, on the edge of burn out, decided on a voluntary demotion back into uniform. Hoping for a quieter life where she can recharge her emotional batteries and come to terms with recent events her retreat is shattered when she discovers a body floating in the Thames. But this is no ordinary accident or even suicide. The body has been wrapped in a ceremonial cloth and clearly weighted to remain at the bottom of the river. When a second body is found it becomes clear that a serial killer is targeting a very specific type of person for very specific reasons. Unfortunately for Lacey she neatly fits into the killers profile and the killer seems to know a great deal about her. As Lacey becomes more and more entangled in the plots of others her hidden past begins to float to the surface. Who is the woman she visits in prison every week without fail who she seems to know very well despite being on the very opposite sides of the law, why does she lie about her birthday and is her name even Lacey to begin with. So many questions and so little time for the tide is turning and soon all will be revealed.

This was one of those random books I’ve started picking up from my local supermarket. Twice a week they update their Top 40 books and I find myself browsing through them looking for something interesting, something different and something cheap in case my instincts fail me and I bring home a stinker. Well, this time my instincts did not fail me – far from it. Despite only (presently) having a little over 50 books listed in this category Crime novels are actually one of my favourite genres. I am by nature a puzzle solver and there are hardly more interesting puzzles than other human beings especially acting under stress. Crime novels allows the reader to experience things that they’ll hopefully never experience for real and, in the process often solve (or at least try to solve) an often complex and cool puzzle. The reward is getting to the killer or an important clue before the author reviews them to the reader. Although I failed to get the killer correct – she kept me guessing until the very end – I am proud to say that I clued into the motive behind the killings around 10 pages before the author confirmed my hunch. But, apart from the fact that the novel was very well, and very tightly, written and often had a wonderfully creepy atmosphere, it had a superb cast of characters (both minor and major) who were completely believable. I’ve worked (briefly) with the police before and the author had their dialogue spot on – that half jokey, half world weary way of talking that seems to say that they’ve seen it all and that nothing could phase them, but still it does. Lacey herself was a real gem. I discovered part way through this book that it’s actually the 4th in the series. Luckily this did not detract from things at all. There are references throughout to earlier episodes in her life but there just added extra depth to an already interesting character. The good thing, of course, is that I know have another 4 books to find out more about her! As you can tell I was very impressed by this rather rare foray into contemporary crime. Needless to say there will be much more coming and much more from Ms Flint.