Synopses & Reviews
From a former crime reporter, a page-turning mystery that explores the tension between press and police "It started low and soft, but grew slowly, increasing in pitch and volume into an unceasing scream so loud and so desperate it pierced his primeval soul. The detective was stunned, his mind blank. On the ragged edges of his consciousness a prophecy took hold. He could see, with shattering clarity, that there would never again be a time in his life when that scream did not exist."
London, 1986. A newspaper editor is horrifically murdered, his death quickly followed by a series of more brutal, and often bizarre, slayings. The police are baffled, the only clear link between the murders being a single blood red rose left at the scene of every killing. Why? What does the rose mean? What connects the killer to each bloody corpse? Scotland Yard detective Alan Winters leads a hunt for the elusive prey. As the body count rises, Jennifer Chapman, renowned investigative journalist and daughter of the murdered newspaper editor, sets out on a personal quest for revenge. Drawn together in their pursuit of a deadly quarry, Winters and Jennifer unwittingly face a fatal surprise, for the killer is closer than they think. As they close in on the truth of the blood red rose, their unseen foe plots a shattering end to his reign of terror, and death awaits them all.
Review
"Readers should be prepared for a bloody good read." —Publishers Weekly
Review
"hot, hot, hot." —Library Journal
Synopsis
A fifth procedural featuring Inspector Devlin, as well as the stark realities of recent Irish historyYou can't investigate the baby, Inspector. It's the law.
Declan Cleary's body has never been found, but everyone believes he was killed for informing on a friend more than 30 years ago. Now the Commission for Location of Victims' Remains is following a tip-off that he was buried on the small isle of Islandmore, in the middle of the River Foyle. Instead, the dig uncovers a baby's skeleton, and it doesn't look like death by natural causes. But evidence revealed by the commission's activities cannot lead to prosecution. Inspector Devlin is torn. He has no desire to resurrect the violent divisions of the recent past, but neither can he let a suspected murderer go unpunished. Now that the secret is out, more deaths follow. Devlin must follow his conscience—even when that puts those closest to him at terrible risk.
About the Author
Kevin Murray began his writing career 40 years ago, working on the Star, Johannesburg's biggest daily newspaper. He soon became chief crime reporter in what was considered to be the crime capital of the world. Since then, his successful career has spanned magazine publishing, public relations, and strategic communications. He has written two business books on leadership.