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Author: Richard Montanari, 2014.
Genre: Crime Fiction. Police Procedural. Serial Murders.
Other Details: Hardback. 464 pages.
Mr Marseille is polite, elegant, and erudite. He would do anything for his genteel true love Anabelle. And he is a psychopath.
A quiet Philadelphia suburb. A woman cycles past a train depot with her young daughter. And there she finds a murdered girl posed on a newly painted bench. Strangled. Beside her is a formal invite to a tea dance in a week's time. Seven days later, two more young victims are discovered in a disused house, posed on painted swings. At the scene is an identical invite. This time, though, there is something extra waiting for Detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano.A delicate porcelain doll. It's a message. And a threat. With Marseille and Anabelle stalking the city, Detectives Byrne and Balzano have just seven days to find the link between the murders before another innocent child is snatched from its streets. - synopsis from UK publisher;s website.
This series has distinguished itself not only as well- crafted police procedurals with an appealing partnership at its heart but also by featuring a succession of very creepy murderers. The latest nightmare duo of Mr, Marseille and Anabelle continued to impress in that respect. Dolls when featured in crime fiction seems to slip easily into horror territory.
In addition to the above case, Kevin Byrne finds himself haunted by the memory of an old case that also involves murdered and missing children. The plot is quite complex, very dark and the reveal ingenious.
Certainly this proved a page-turner and I hope there will be further books in the series in the future.
