Cold Killing: A Novel

by Luke Delaney

Overview

Luke Delaney takes the thriller genre to new heights with his debut crime novel, Cold Killing—an unforgettable and haunting duel between a seasoned detective and a brilliant serial killer.

Detective Inspector Sean Corrigan finds the body of a brutally murdered young man in his own South London flat. Corrigan takes the case and soon finds himself embroiled in a deadly cat-and-mouse game with a ruthless and clever serial killer who changes his modus operandi each time he kills, leaving no useable forensic evidence behind...

Former London murder squad detective Luke Delaney has created a cast of memorable and complex characters in this dark and psychological page-turner.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062219466
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/21/2013
Pages:	437
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.80(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Luke Delaney joined the Metropolitan Police Service in the late 1980s, and his first posting was to an inner city area of South East London notorious for high levels of crime and extreme violence. He later joined CID, where he investigated murders ranging from those committed by fledgling serial killers to gangland assassinations.

Editorial Reviews

British author Delaney’s debut offers enough variation on the familiar detective-tormented-by-a-horrific-childhood theme to leave readers eager for the next in the series. Det. Insp. Sean Corrigan, in charge of a South London Murder Investigation Team, pulled his life together after being sexually abused as a child. That trauma has given him an advantage when confronting violent crimes, as his experience with human darkness enables him to “make leaps in investigation others struggled to understand, filling in the blanks with his unique imagination.” And Corrigan needs any advantage he can get in dealing with a brilliant killer who knows exactly how to strike without leaving clues for forensic scientists. The savage stabbing of a gay man is the first crime that brings the murderer to Corrigan’s attention, but it’s by no means the last. A contrivance toward the end will annoy those expecting a more intelligent resolution, but the permutations in the cat-and-mouse plot line work well. Agent: Simon Trewin, WME. (June)

Publishers Weekly

A striking debut from a former Murder Squad detective. Delaney is not his real name, but there is no doubt about his inside knowledge and ability to convey it.” — Daily Mail (London)

“A confident, aggressive and very promising debut by a former Met detective.” — The Times (London)

“In this gritty and hard-hitting crime novel, Delaney manages to keep the reader’s attention from the first page, with gripping flashbacks from the perspective of the killer, to the very end.” — Iron Mountain Daily News

“An addictive story . . . Delaney’s accomplished debut captivates and chills.” — Richmond Times-Dispatch

From the Publisher

A confident, aggressive and very promising debut by a former Met detective.

The Times (London)

A striking debut from a former Murder Squad detective. Delaney is not his real name, but there is no doubt about his inside knowledge and ability to convey it.

Daily Mail (London)

In this gritty and hard-hitting crime novel, Delaney manages to keep the reader’s attention from the first page, with gripping flashbacks from the perspective of the killer, to the very end.

Iron Mountain Daily News

An addictive story . . . Delaney’s accomplished debut captivates and chills.

Richmond Times-Dispatch

A serial killer stalks London. One might think that whoever stabbed rent boy Daniel Graydon 77 times would have left DI Sean Corrigan of the Serious Crime Group South a wealth of clues to work with. But except for two measly traces--a sole fingerprint on a doorknob and a shoe imprint on the victim's body--the crime scene was unhelpfully tidy. Still, Corrigan, whose experience with rape and brutality is not limited to his job--his father taught him firsthand about depravity--senses that this killer's rampage has barely started. Supervising old-timer DS Dave Donnelly, DS Sally Jones and anyone else he can corral, Corrigan locates James Hellier, a married financier who met up with Graydon at the Utopia nightclub, and intuitively recognizes him as a monster in posh clothing. The battle is on: Will Hellier or Corrigan triumph? Hellier's boss, Sebastian Gibran, is eager to keep the firm of Butler and Mason International Finance out of the tabloids. But that hardly seems possible when police records link Hellier's methods to those of Stefan Korsakov, a perp whose mug shot and prints have mysteriously vanished from the prison system. Hellier outwits numerous surveillance teams and withstands Corrigan's interrogations, and it's possible a bent copper is helping him. Even so, Corrigan links him to more gruesome murders. An almost fatal attack on DS Jones finally lands Hellier in custody, but a major, albeit unlikely, plot twist unveils another possible killer, setting Hellier free to do his worst in far-off climes. A plodding debut with lip-smacking, bloody reminiscences from the perp and dreary foul-ups from the cops.

Kirkus Reviews