Twisted BonesHelen Phifer
313 pages
Bookouture
Morgan kneels beside the fluttering crime scene tape. Their hands clasped, the couple’s embrace looks loving and warm, but an icy chill grips the air. Their lips are blue, and blood is dripping on the floor. They have been silenced forever…
When sweet-natured teaching assistant Rosie Waite, and her boyfriend Matt, are found dead in their quaint family home in the Lake District, Detective Morgan Brookes is horrified. Sleeping just two doors down, she heard no screams for help, no slamming doors, or alarms in the night. A twisted killer nailed the couple’s lips shut, and Morgan vows to keep watch over every innocent family in Rydal Falls until this monster is brought to justice.
Climbing the narrow attic staircase as she searches every inch of the property, Morgan finds a mattress on the floor, empty food wrappers, and a letter that reads: if you’ve found this, you’re next to die. Fear washes over Morgan’s team; the killer was watching his victims, and now her life is at risk.
Ignoring pleas that she take a step back, Morgan throws herself harder at the case discovering that the nails used to bind the victims’ lips were pierced with expert equipment. And Matt had been asking questions at a local tattoo parlour. Everyone thought he and Rosie were a quiet, kind-hearted couple, but was Matt hiding a dangerous secret? Did he betray the woman he loved?
Moonlight shines over the cottage by the river, casting a shadow over the frozen water. Silk fabric rustles in the reeds, moving ever so slightly to reveal five thin bones…
When Detective Morgan Brookes is urgently called to her Aunt Ettie’s cottage, hidden in Covel Woods, she rushes to the scene. Panicked Ettie is shaken having discovered the chilling remains of a woman in the river, one skeletal hand reaching out from the deep water.
The unknown woman was dressed to walk the rugged trails of the Lake District, so Morgan’s team assume she fell in the water and was taken by the current. But thin diagonal bruises on her neck suggest something far more sinister. A faded red rose tattoo helps Morgan identify her as a homeless woman named Martha who went missing seven years ago, and Morgan is horrified to discover Martha stole nappies and baby formula just before she disappeared. Did she have a child? Where is the poor baby now?
Desperately searching through cold case files, Morgan discovers that schoolteacher Aria Burns went missing from the same busy area. But her horror quickly turns to hope when she sees the autopsy results from Martha’s frozen remains. She was killed recently; if Aria was taken by the same killer, she could still be alive.
Morgan is certain a twisted individual is stalking Rydal Falls, and Martha’s body was dumped to signal the beginning of his cruel game. But just as she finds a clear suspect in a visitor with links to the area where Martha and Aria went missing, another body surfaces. Can she uncover the truth about Martha, and find Aria alive? Or is she already too late?
Fans of Lisa Regan, Melinda Leigh and Rachel McLean will hold their breath as they read this addictive and utterly unputdownable crime thriller.
My Review
As the series progresses, it is getting a little darker. There are the same great characters that I love to read about, but their encounters and cases are getting to be a little more. And it isn’t that they were less before.
At some point the case always seems to hit close to home and this time it is Morgan’s aunt. And a bonus connection that you’ll just have to read to discover.
As the story unravels, this almost felt a little like it could be ripped from the headlines. It kept me guessing and twisted and turned to make sure I couldn’t quite predict who the team was after. The case is layered and the team works at a breakneck speed to catch the killer.
One of the best things about the series is the characters. I like how both they and the relationships grow from book to book. That is part of why the personal cases have an even bigger stake. I’ve spent enough time with the characters that they feel like friends. I root for them both professionally and personally. Morgan and Ben and the rest of the team have such great chemistry. All the books can be read as a stand alone but there are things that carry from book to book. Theo is still struggling with issues from a previous book and I can see the foreshadowing of what is heading towards another. That’s a testament to the plotting and planning the author has put into the book and series. It has a complex plot that reads with an ease that I didn’t want to put it down.
Whether you jump in at book 16 or read the entire series, if you are a crime buff, you’ll want to jump on board.
About the Author
Helen Phifer is the bestselling writer of the hugely popular Detective Morgan Brookes series. As well as the Lucy Harwin, Beth Adams and Maria Miller series of books.
Her debut novel The Ghost House featuring Annie Graham went on to be a global bestseller.
She lives in the busy town of Barrow-in-Furness surrounded by miles of coastline and a short drive from the glorious English Lake District. Her favourite hobbies include reading, chasing the Aurora Borealis when it puts in an appearance, visiting Salem, watching the sunset, the moon rise and drinking coffee.
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