March 15, 2022
Jeremy Western is out for a rainy hike in Staffordshire, England, when he sees a young woman, who has blood on her clothes, pushing an infant in a stroller. She is at the edge of a steep cliff, seemingly about to push the child over. Jeremy makes the dangerous climb to rescue the pair and takes them to the police station, bringing DCI Joanna Piercy a new, incredibly challenging case. The young woman refuses to say anything, leaving Joanna no choice but to put her in a psychiatric ward and send the child to foster care while trying to discover what happened. The case has personal resonance for Joanna since she and her husband, Matthew, a forensic pathologist, are struggling to balance career and parenting duties themselves. Joanna and her team eventually uncover clues that lead to a dead body, but the young woman remains silent. An excellent choice for those who enjoy intricately plotted British mysteries.
COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
February 14, 2022
At the outset of British author Masters’s meticulously constructed 15th mystery featuring Det. Insp. Joanna Piercy (after 2019’s Blood on the Rocks), a hiker, who’s out for his habitual walk on the Staffordshire moors, is stunned to see a young woman apparently edging a toddler in a pushchair dangerously near the precipice of a steep cliff. Fearing for the child’s life, he intervenes. He takes the woman and child, both of whom have blood on their clothing, to Leek police station. The woman seems dazed and doesn’t utter a word. Is she traumatized or obstructing the investigation? If the former, what caused the trauma? Piercy and her team take half the book to painstakingly piece together the woman’s identity, and their research eventually leads them to a horrendous crime scene. Subtle clues keep readers engaged amid various false starts, while details of Piercy’s domestic life—including moments with her infant son and her helpful if intrusive in-laws—provide counterpoint to the crime solving. Fans of traditional police procedurals will find a lot to like. Agent: Juliet Burton, Juliet Burton Literary (U.K.).
January 1, 2022
A woman who either can't or won't speak holds the answers to several crimes. DI Joanna Piercy may have given birth to the son her husband Mathew desperately wanted, but her continued devotion to her job makes her feel like a bad mother, and certainly an exhausted one. She especially misses her sergeant, Mike Korpanski, who's been sidelined by a severe injury, especially when she catches the case of a young woman who was seemingly about to shove a toddler over a steep cliff when a passing hiker grabbed the little boy's stroller. The woman carries no identifying papers, and she and the child both have blood on their clothing. No matter how hard everyone tries, no one can get her to say anything, and Joanna ends up placing her in a psychiatric hospital and the boy in foster care. Despite extensive searches with dogs, door-to-door inquiries, and appeals to the public, the team comes up with frustratingly little evidence. No car is found, but at length a trucker comes forward to say that he'd given the pair a ride. DNA evidence shows that the child is not related to the silent woman but is the son of whomever's blood is on their clothes. Joanna is baffled because no murders or kidnappings have been reported. When a body is finally found, it produces more unanswered questions than answers. A riveting police procedural focusing on guilt, frustration, and the many varieties of love.
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