Secrets Of The Dead by Carol Wyer

I found this to be a wonderfully crafted Crime Thriller and one that is managing to step away from the so familiar tropes prevalent in the genre.  Rather than being all about a maverick detective, in this case Robyn Carter, it is about the team work of Robyn, Mitz and Anna in trying to join the dots between a series of murders and narrow in on the culprit.  There are the usual red herrings but these are laid in such a way that they seem entirely plausible and based off leads given by the public rather than an interior hunch.  To be honest it was a refreshingly straight forward police procedural where the reader gets the information at the same time as the police.

We do follow the standard of having segments told by the killer.  Whilst they give us the understanding of who he is targeting and why the author has managed to steer clear of giving us so much information that we know who the killer is.  We know some of his family situation and that he works but not where; we know his sister and that he lives alone.  Beyond this his identity only becomes clear to us about 3 pages before Anna figures it out.  Thats right, the real discovery that leads to his naming and capture is not the detective but her subordinate.

I will admit to being hesitant about purchasing any further books in the Robyn Carter series as the first one I found a bit too patchy in its telling.  I am very glad that I decided to persevere as I thoroughly enjoyed this second book.  You don't need to read the first to engage with the characters and no mention is made of the first crime so my recommendation would be skip Little Girl Lost and jump straight to this one as Carol Wyer has honed her talent for telling a story and weaving a believable plot.