Dark Truths

by A.J. Cross

Overview

When a young woman's body is discovered on a popular jogging trail in Birmingham, Detective Inspector Bernard Watts and his team are plunged into a disturbing murder investigation. Not only has the woman been violently stabbed - her head is missing.

When a close examination of the crime scene results in a shocking discovery linking the present murder to a past crime, criminologist Will Traynor is brought in to assist the police. Aware of Traynor's troubled past, Watts is sceptical that he will bring anything useful to the investigation.

He's about to be proved very wrong . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781838853945
Publisher:	Canongate Books
Publication date:	04/20/2021
Edition description:	Main
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.08(w) x 7.80(h) x (d)

About the Author

A.J. Cross is a forensic psychologist with over twenty years' experience in the field. She lives in Birmingham with her jazz-musician husband and is the author of five Kate Hanson mysteries.

Editorial Reviews

"An intriguing fair-play puzzle, with an abundant set of plausible suspects and possible motives ... A highly satisfying mystery"

Publishers Weekly on Something Evil Comes

Outstanding ... Cross, herself a forensic psychologist, plays fair with the reader right up to the surprising conclusion

Cold Heart Publishers Weekly Starred Review of Cold

All the elements of a winning puzzler: a sympathetic heroine, a complicated case, and a crisis to lend a sense of urgency that justice be served

Cold Heart Kirkus Reviews on Cold

"Watching an old pro herd cats as he cracks a tough case should tickle procedural fans everywhere"

Kirkus Reviews

"A gripping, suspenseful, cleverly plotted story with plenty of unusual twists and a smart, independent heroine"

Booklist on A Little Death

Another keep-'em-guessing instalment of this popular and sharply written crime series ... Characters with notable depth, a provocative plot, and a nifty twist make this a procedural to savor

Cold Heart Booklist on Cold

"This series debut is a solid, skillfully written police drama with plenty of twists"

Booklist

"This series debut is a solid, skillfully written police drama with plenty of twists"

Booklist

2019-10-27
DI Bernard Watts must break in a new team as he tracks a serial killer.

It's bad enough that his trusted forensic psychologist, Kate Hanson, has gone off to Boston with Lt. Joe Corrigan, the American cop she met on the Della Harrington case (Cold, Cold Heart, 2018). Now Watts has to deal with rookie PC Chloe Judd, whose enthusiasm far outstrips her expertise, as he explores the murder of Zoe Roberts, killed during an early morning run down a public trail. This new murder is particularly unpleasant all on its own, since the killer took the trouble to remove the jogger's head from her body. But the discovery of several more skulls buried in shallow earth not far from the scene of Zoe's murder lets poor Watts know that he's now faced with a detective's worst nightmare—an active serial killer. Watts' investigation becomes still more complicated when the higher-ups who've decided to bring in a criminologist to profile the killer insist on choosing William Traynor, whose keen insight is paired with an obsession over the unsolved murder of his own wife, Claire. Between Traynor, who sees every murder as Claire's, and Judd, who's seen exactly zero murders before these, methodical Watts has his hands full.

Watching an old pro herd cats as he cracks a tough case should tickle procedural fans everywhere.

Kirkus Reviews