By: Kate Rhodes
Genres: Thriller
Posted: July 12, 2013
With a Silence of the Lamb" and Jack the Ripper feel to it, CROSSBONES YARD is a horrific crime story that I was still thinking about a week after I finished it. It leaves an impact on the reader with the paralleled content and, at times, graphic violence. The main character, Alice Quentin, is running on high anxiety, living with her tortured past and dealing with a troubled present. The only way she can temporarily escape her anxiety is to run through the streets of London late at night or before the sun rises. This lends her to experience the seedy crime in the dark, which she does quickly by stumbling upon a dead body. When this story starts, there's no stopping it as Alice becomes quickly and deeply entwined in a series of murders, killers and her sometimes position as a profiler for the police department.
There is a delicious twist on who is revealed to be the true killer in the end, which was wholly satisfying. With CROSSBONES YARD being Kate Rhodes' debut novel, I was surprised due to the seasoned feel of the writing, fantastic pacing and characters. I will definitely be picking up her next work.
Book Summary
Introducing Alice Quentin, a London psychologist with family baggage, who finds herself at the center of a grisly series of murders
Alice Quentin is a psychologist with some painful family secrets, but she has a good job, a good-looking boyfriend, and excellent coping skills, even when that job includes evaluating a convicted killer who’s about to be released from prison. One of the highlights of her day is going for a nice, long run around her beloved London—it's impossible to fret or feel guilty about your mother or brother when you're concentrating on your breathing—until she stumbles upon a dead body at a former graveyard for prostitutes, Crossbones Yard.
The dead woman’s wounds are alarmingly similar to the signature style of Ray and Marie Benson, who tortured and killed thirteen women before they were caught and sent to jail. Five of their victims were never found. That was six years ago, and the last thing Alice wants to do is to enter the sordid world of the Bensons or anyone like them. But when the police ask for her help in building a psychological profile of the new murderer, she finds that the killer— and the danger to her and the people she cares about—may already be closer than she ever imagined.
With gripping suspense and a terrific new heroine, Kate Rhodes's Crossbones Yard introduces a powerful new voice in crime fiction.
by: Kate Rhodes
Minotaur Books
March 1, 2013
On Sale: February 26, 2013
Featuring: Alice Quentin
320 pages
ISBN: 125001428X
EAN: 9781250014283
Kindle: B008SAZGQC
Hardcover / e-Book