A tightly plotted, fast-moving read that shows this series is getting better and better.
Our story begins with someone watching a young woman. Deliberately vague, I confess to still not being sure of the significance of this scene. We then switch to another young woman preparing for a night out. When we next see her she is being picked up by a taxi driver who fears she’s been attacked.
Having had a bag put over her head, her wrists tied and her knickers pulled down, there’s no doubt this was a premeditated attack. Her refusal to involve the police seems odd…and it’s not until some further digging has taken place that we realise just why Faith is reluctant to speak up. The police are not entirely sure who is responsible, or the motives for this attack, but they are on high alert.
Days later another young girl, Sasha Blake, goes missing. When her body is found there’s concern that the crimes may be linked. Alongside the general investigative stuff (which rattled along so well), we learn of a past crime that Fawley was involved in. There are unnerving similarities between the crimes and though there’s the suggestion of a copycat killer, the person imprisoned for these violent crimes has always sworn his innocence and these latest developments strongly suggest that the police may have got the wrong man.
I was completely consumed in trying to get to the bottom of this one. There were numerous plausible possibilities and each option seemed pretty unpleasant. The actual truth was heart-wrenchingly awful. And as for the closing scene with our ‘innocent’ man being released, it doesn’t bode well for what’s to come.
Scheduled for release later this month, a huge thank you to NetGalley for getting my 2020 reading off to such a good start!