This is the second of Tony J Forder’s books featuring D I Bliss and his partner Detective Sergeant Penny Chandler.
Newly returned to Peterborough after twelve years away policing organised crime, DI Bliss joins the Major Crimes Team and immediately is thrown into a brutal murder enquiry. The murder appears to be the latest in a series. Bliss very quickly spots a possible link between a series of rapes and murders.
Penny Chandler now promoted to Detective Sergeant joins the enquiry as the rapes she has been investigating seem linked to the murders.
The search for the serial killer and rapist then becomes a desperate race against time to apprehend the culprit before he can add to his growing list of rape and murder victims.
The enquiry involves a trawl through old cases and incidents. When a pattern emerges a trip to the U.S.A. becomes a necessity to follow old leads. Bliss and Chandler know they are up against a deadline but don’t know what it is. Speed and accuracy are needed, the plot twists and turns as the desperate search accelerates to a cliff-hanging conclusion.
A satisfying, engaging, read, the characters are well-drawn and apart from the U.S.A., the settings are familiar to me.
Excellent, thank you, Mr Forder.
Degrees of Darkness is the next in the series and I shall be obtaining it before very long.
The Scent of Guilt is available on Amazon and from bookshops.
Fenlandphil's Blog 