A young man who is the son of a serial killer confessing to the murder of a young woman in her kitchen. The police don’t believe him and release him. When another young woman is found dead, things take a turn. Was the young man telling the truth? Soon, one of their own is in danger.

The film-maker’s murder was discovered in the early hours of Sunday morning. Police were called to the Tehran suburb of Ekbatan after someone spotted human body parts in a bin, local media reported, quoting the judge, Mohammad Shahriari, the head of the Tehran criminal court. The parents claimed they killed the son-in-law because he was abusive, murdered their daughter because she became addicted to drugs, and targeted their son because he was single and having relationships with students, according to Hussein Rahimi, a Tehran police chief, quoted in newspapers. Let me preface my review with the fact that this is my first ever reading of a police procedural crime story, which is not my particular cup of tea. But, the psychological thriller storyline is intriguing, so I decided to “cowgirl up” and read it.

Now: a woman is viciously stabbed to death in the upmarket kitchen of her beautiful house on the edge of the marshes. Whilst we have the duo on the hunt for the “real” murderer we have a subplot which I really enjoyed and wanted more exposure involved Zane Pruitt and Kevin Stoner. I have to say Stoner was my favourite character (ok Orac is a very close second) in the book and what he endured at the hands of Pruitt made me so angry! I hope he gets more book time; you see Stoner goes from hiding who is, to accepting who he is, I do love me a bit of character growth like that! Secondly, when the the two characters are supposed to be having a "sentimental chat" about the character Kevin being silly for not having coming out already. His boss tells him his evangelical dad probably won't react badly and will accept him. Then, Kevin was emotionally touched to tears by that? This writer clearly hasn't had the experience of coming out to their extremely pious parents or is blissfully unaware of how many people STILL are doing that with a very negative result. A white (blond, in fact) male journalist is described as a 'new up-and-coming voice' or something like that and the police record a suspect's interrogation on a literal tape (surely they don't still use those). This is a very gripping story with a lot going on as the team try to untangle the web and uncover the clues. However, there are complications at every turn and all is not as it seems as we join the team on an adrenaline pumping journey through the twists and turns of the case. As more murders are committed and people are running away and going missing this is one very gripping book that is impossible to put down.

Perfect for fans of Rachel Abbott, Robert Bryndza, Mel Sherratt, Angela Marsons, Colin Dexter, or Ruth Rendell.

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First, this author has some serious writing skills. It’s well paced, has good flow & a real sense of place. It simply comes down to a matter of taste & what you enjoy reading. This is a British police procedural that I procured from Audible Plus after reading a fabulous review from a fellow blogger. Bloggers give the best recs!