I was pleased to see another DI Graves book released so soon after the first one. I very much enjoyed The Demons Beneath and looked forward to jumping back into the plot, assumedly where it had left off.
I was a little bit surprised to find that wasn’t the case. Instead, the author starts with a fascinatingly gruesome murder, followed in quick succession by Detective Inspector Graves and Palmer arriving at the scene. As one character puts it (and I’m paraphrasing here), if they are on the case, you know there is more to it.
As this is another cracking crime thriller, I’m not going to give any spoilers. Suffice to say that the murders and the common thread that ties them together are well-written and creepy, and answer the question of “what happens when a psychopath and a sociopath work together?” These scenes are very well-described, so it is easy for the reader to see why Graves has such a problem with crime scenes. (He reminds me of Doc Martin, the doctor who gets queasy at the sight of blood).
I loved that this aspect of his character got more attention in the story – the brutality of the murders lent itself easily to exploring Graves’ issues. I also liked how we got more back story as to why he is the way he is.
I think that this is a strength of the author; all of the characters are very natural. They have quirks and personal baggage that sometimes help/hinder their investigations. They do not exist in a vacuum solely to solve crime; they are real people.
I also liked that several departments contributed to the investigation. From the Medical Examiner to the profiler and even the rank and file, everyone came up with a piece of the puzzle to solve the crime. As a person who is very familiar with law enforcement, I appreciated the attention to detail and recognition that the littlest bit of information can truly crack a case.
I did wish for a little bit more of Jenny’s story, but it is quite apparent that this is going to be a cat and mouse thread that weaves through future installments of the series. The melding of two different plot threads left quite the cliffhanger and made me eager for the next book.
