Jared Keaton, chef to the stars. Charming. Charismatic. Psychopath . . . He’s currently serving a life sentence for the brutal murder of his daughter, Elizabeth. Her body was never found and Keaton was convicted largely on the testimony of Detective Sergeant Washington Poe.
So when a young woman staggers into a remote police station with irrefutable evidence that she is Elizabeth Keaton, Poe finds himself on the wrong end of an investigation, one that could cost him much more than his career.
Helped by the only person he trusts, the brilliant but socially awkward Tilly Bradshaw, Poe races to answer the only question that matters: how can someone be both dead and alive at the same time?
And then Elizabeth goes missing again – and all paths of investigation lead back to Poe.
Having been, like many people, a huge fan of The Puppet Show I was keen to engage once more with the world of Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw.
Always tricky, that second novel when the first is so well received, this author overcame that by giving us a truly creative and dastardly mystery, where the dead return to life but are also probably dead. Yes, we are definitely going to need Tilly for this one…
Black Summer is wildly entertaining, mainly because of its two main protagonists, but also because the flow of it is fully charged, the plotting is sublime and the “bad guy” unbearably smug so the thought of Poe and Bradshaw knocking the smile right off his face keeps you avidly turning the pages.
More of a howdunnit than a whodunnit this is almost impossible to put down, apt considering the impossible seems to have occurred, this is a pacy, intelligent thriller and now I’m wondering how the indomitable Mr Craven can possibly up his game in the next book…
Watch this space because whatever happens you’ll want to be along for the ride.
Very much recommended.
You can purchase Black Summer (Constable) Here.
Happy Reading!
