Deadly Crimes
Author: Michael Hambling
Source: NetGalley ARC Joffe Books
Image: NetGalley
Detective Inspector Sophie Allen is head of the Violent Crime Unit, the setting is the English county of Dorset.In this, the second book of the series Sophie faces her toughest challenge, a young mans mutilated body is found on top of Aggelstone, a well known local landmark onStudland Heath. He may be involved in prostitution and human trafficking. Why though is Sophie Allen keeping something back from her team?
My ReviewDeadly Crimes is the second book in the Detective Sophie Allen series, I haven't read the first, Dark Crimes, so maybe missed out on not knowing Sophie as well as I ought to have.This is an interesting and well written story, two crimes occur decades apart yet are somehow linked. What makes this a little different to many police procedural / mystery novels is that the lead detective plays a very different role to the one the reader might expect.For most of her life Sophie has borne a terrible emotional burden, early in the story the reasons for this, despite becoming clearer, become even more emotional. Sophie now has to view her life through a completely different lens, she discovers how the cause of her own heartbreak has, unknown to her, also devastated the lives of others. Yet Sophie must do her job, she has a murderer to catch. The mutilated body of a young man has been discovered, investigations uncover possible connections to the selling of young women - human trafficking.The author has peopled his book with some interesting and varied characters, some you wouldn't want to meet! I loved the interaction between Sophie and Barry, her Detective Sergeant, both so different yet they seemingly have the perfect working partnership. The book doesn't gallop along in exciting leaps and bounds, but it certainly holds the readers attention and interest.I must say, there is just a tad too much violence and human abuse for my taste, and maybe a little over emotional too, but if you are O.K. with this then this is quite an adventure.Thanks to NetGalley and Joffe books for an Advanced Reader Copy in return for an honest review