The Serious Crime Analysis Section (SCAS), lead by Detective Inspector Stephanie Flynn, uses a range of data sources and information to identify the emergence of serial rapists and serial killers - as well as providing Police forces with analytical support for their trickier cases. It's not typical Police work, and involves some rather unusual skill sets, and personalities. Tilly Bradshaw is one of the more unusual members of the team, she can see mathematical patterns that others miss, and if she needs a programme to do a job and can't find one she writes the programmes herself. While she may be a genius and something of a prodigy when it comes to seeing patterns, she lacks many of the common social skills that are important when working in a team. When Tilly sees a pattern with the third victim of killer the press has dubbed The Immolation Man, because he likes to burn his victims, she makes a phone call that leads to a startling discovery.
Washington Poe is minding his own business in Cumbria, waiting for the day when the hammer finally drops on his career. Suspended in disgrace more than a year ago after a careless act that leads to the death of a suspect, Poe has been quietly working on his new home Herdwick Croft. When DI Flynn appears with the news his suspension has been lifted he has mixed feelings, especially when she gives him the choice of coming back to work or resigning, but the details of the case are too tempting to ignore. The Immolation Man is not only leaving his victims in the stone circles of Cumbria, he has also linked Poe to the latest victim. Poe is a brilliant profiler, even if he is unorthodox and prone to break the rules - and one of the first rules he breaks is taking Tilly Bradshaw into the field. It's a partnership that shouldn't work, but it somehow does - even if Poe seems to spend a lot of time helping Tilly navigate the real world rather than working on the case. It is a race against time for Tilly and Poe to find The Immolation Man before he finds his next victim - or before the rich and powerful stop their investigation in it's tracks. Poe has never been afraid to fight the hard fights and pursue a case to the end, but this time he has Tilly to think about too.
The puppet show was an engrossing read which fits the old cliché of 'the pages almost seemed to turn themselves' - which doesn't do the story or the characters justice. I wasn't sure what to think about Tilly when she was first introduced, you would expect the main character to be the introduction, but starting with Tilly was the perfect place to start. I could see a lot of people in Tilly, and while some might dismiss her as a cliché (brilliant but socially awkward), she is an engaging character in her own way and allows you to find a different view from the traditional Police perspective in crime novels. Poe in his own way is also both a walking cliché and refreshingly different - he is the Police officer on the edges, loathed by some of this colleagues, but also brilliant at what he does and with a good heart. The combination of Poe and Tilly leads to some heart warming moments as well as some laugh out loud moments - and the story they are investigating is complex enough to keep you guessing but still challenges you to solve the case before they do.
The puppet show is the first book in a series and I have already ordered the next book in the series so I can read it. A highly recommended read.
If you like this book then try:
- Then she was gone by Lisa Jewell
- When I was ten by Fiona Cummins
- Before she was Helen by Caroline B. Cooney
- Every last fear by Alex Finlay
- Hidden lies by Rachel Ryan
- Sticks and stones by Katherine Firkin
- The liar's daughter by Claire Allan
- The nowhere child by Christian White
- My best friend's murder by Polly Phillips
- Crimson Lake by Candice Fox
- The better sister by Alafair Burke
- Either side of midnight by Benjamin Stevenson
- Two wrongs by Rebecca Reid
- The coast to coast murders by James Patterson and J.D.Barker
Reviewed by Brilla
No comments:
Post a Comment