A Place of Reckoning is absolutely gripping and I won’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone and everyone who loves an excellent psychological murder mystery/police procedural/thriller.
Kerry Anne Parsons.
Having read, and thoroughly enjoyed, The Killer Shadow Thieves I was very much looking forward to catching up with DI Tom Blake again in book 2, A Place of Reckoning. I can assure you this has been another thoroughly entertaining read!
First of all, I love that these books are set in Stoke-on-Trent. This always makes it that little bit more exciting for me as I love it when I recognise street names and public places etc. mentioned throughout the story.
I have to warn you, this isn’t a story for the feint hearted. It really is quite gruesome at times and often makes for uncomfortable reading due to the nature of some of the crimes committed and some seriously disturbed characters.
The story begins with the kidnapping of a very wealthy pottery tycoon’s wife. Annabelle is kept locked away and subjected to all manner of horrific abuse whilst her kidnapper attempts to extort money from her husband, Charles Lancaster.
The team are confident they know who is responsible though and hope to resolve the situation quickly and find Annabelle alive. However, when a headless body is discovered in a remote spot, in the peak district, their investigation is blown wide open. This woman has a mysterious tattoo on the small of her back.
What does that mean?
They have their work cut out finding out who this woman is as every attempt has been made to obscure her identity. DI Tom Blake and Lucy Stryker (an FBI profiler) work together with the rest of the team to try to piece together the clues before anyone else gets hurt.
The investigation gradually reveals all sorts of sadistic secrets which truly made my skin crawl, but I had no choice but to keep reading as I was desperate to find out the truth! A truth that I did not see coming at all!!
Oh, on a happier note, I loved that Tom and Lucy have found a little bit of romance in their lives! I like a bit of happiness in amongst all the murder and mayhem. 😊 These people deserve a bit of respite from their day-to-day dealings with the dregs of society!
Overall, this book a quite horrifying, but absolutely gripping and I won’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone and everyone who loves an excellent psychological murder mystery/police procedural/thriller.
It ticks all the boxes for me, once again, and I can’t wait for book 3! I really, really hope there is going to be a book 3!??
Many thanks to J.F. Burgess.
UPDATE...
A Place of Reckoning has received 5 STAR reviews on Goodreads, but don't just take my word for it, read those here...
And, 5 STAR reviews on Amazon here...
