Review ~ Closure by Gillian E. Hamer

Triskele Books
November 2012

There is an undeniable confidence in Gillian Hamer’s writing and even as the opening chapter of Closure gets underway there is a definite sense that this story is darker and dirtier than her previous book, The Charter. As always the rugged beauty of the North Wales coastline forms a stunning backdrop to a story of murder, mystery and the uncovering of long buried secrets.

In Closure, a serial killer is striking at the very heart of the university town of Bangor in North Wales, where young women are being randomly selected, and with no obvious clues left behind, the North Wales CID department have huge problems in tracking down the perpetrator. By coincidence, and seemingly unrelated, six year old Jake West experiences surges of memory from a past life which at first appear to have no connection with the main body of the story.

However, with great skill, the author intertwines two very different story strands and creates a plausible and totally believable story about irrefutable evil and the overwhelming belief that good will overcome wickedness. There are twists and turns galore and as the story gets under way there is a definite heightening of tension, with some truly dark moments which add a certain frisson of excitement.

As a reader it’s always reassuring when an author comes up with a second book which is every bit as good, if not better than the first book. There is huge potential for this crime series to continue and I really hope that Ms. Hamer has more stories to share with her readers.

5*****