Review ~ Cross Bones Yard by Kate Rhodes

Mulholland Books
2012

I read this one almost in one sitting, as once started I couldn't put it down, as the both story and writing drew me in from the beginning. Alice Quentin is a clinical psychologist living and working in London. She is a beguiling character, damaged by a traumatic childhood, she identifies with her patients on far too many levels. Her fear of commitment and her irrational need to, almost, go it alone, is a struggle which she faces on a daily basis. When she is drawn into a police investigation, almost by default, she finds that dealing with the fallout from a series of copy cat murders comes far too close to home for her own comfort.

What then follows is tight and cleverly complex murder investigation which has more than enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. The manipulation of both plot and malice is well thought out and even though, at times, I wanted to Alice to go in a different direction, I could understand why the author made her act in the way she did. Mostly, I can suss out the perpetrator quite early on, and in this one, I thought I had the killer in my sights only to be completely surprised by what happened.

As is the first in a series of crime books, which focus on Alice Quentin, there is an element of getting to know the main characters, however, I think the enjoyment in subsequent books will come in the way certain characters are allowed to evolve over time.

Book two - A Killing of Angels ( published 2013)

Book three  - The Winter Foundlings ( published January 2015)

  

About the Author

A bit about Cross Bones Yard.

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