Neon Prey by John Sandford
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Clayton Deese looks like a small-time criminal, muscle for hire when his loan shark boss needs to teach someone a lesson. Now, seven months after a job that went south and landed him in jail, Deese has skipped out on bail, and the U.S. Marshals come looking for him. They don’t much care about a low-level guy–it’s his boss they want–but Deese might be their best chance to bring down the whole operation.

Then, they step onto a dirt trail behind Deese’s rural Louisiana cabin and find a jungle full of graves.

Now Lucas Davenport is on the trail of a serial killer who has been operating for years without notice. His quarry is ruthless, and–as Davenport will come to find–full of surprises . . .

US Marshall Davenport is called in when what’s thought to be a small time criminal jumping his bail bond turns out to have a graveyard’s worth of buried – and some partially eaten – bodies in his back yard. Davenport and a few of his colleagues begin one of their stranger investigations into their very first cannibal and things only get stickier from there.

I’ve been a huge fan of this series for a number of years, and I found this to be an excellent addition to the series. While I feel it can be read by itself, I definitely think readers will get far more enjoyment out of it if they’ve read at least a few of the earlier books and have a decent understanding of the characters and how everyone links together. That said, I equally feel readers can catch up quite easily just with this book and this wouldn’t be a bad place to start.

I believe that readers looking for a fast paced, action orientated mystery should find this fits the bill. There are a few slightly icky parts to this book – though I felt nothing was overtly gory or too graphic – there would be a few warnings to this story (rape, murder and cannibalism). While each of these is mentioned nothing is given too much detail – though it’s not just glossed over either. I feel this won’t be every reader’s cup of tea but it’s quite simple to skip a few paragraphs if you’d like to, and still thoroughly enjoy the rest of the story.

I particularly enjoyed how the plot grew quite complicated as the manhunt continued. In some respects, I really felt this book was more complicated than many I’ve read recently and while towards the end I did begin to feel it was being drawn out a little too long – I have to admit this was not some simple, one-dimensional murder mystery but quite a multi-layered and complex plot. I really enjoyed that.

Readers who are fans of this series or have read other books by John Sandford should have a fairly solid understanding of what to expect and I admit I enjoyed the faster pace and more convoluted storyline. I found this an enjoyable story and am always up for another featuring Davenport again.

Hangman Island by Kate Rhodes
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

ON A REMOTE ISLAND

When Jez Cardew’s boat is found drifting empty on the Atlantic Ocean, DI Ben Kitto and his fellow lifeboat crew members immediately fear the worst. After an extensive search yields no results, the team are forced to retreat to dry land as darkness sets in.

THE OCEAN IS MERCILESS

But Kitto can’t let it go. Why would Jez – an experienced sailor – get into difficulty when the sea has been calm for weeks? Unless his disappearance was no accident.

BUT SO ARE THE PEOPLE . . .

The gruesome discovery of a hand washed ashore on the beach confirms his hunch. Because a medal is attached to the index finger, and it can only have been placed there by the killer.

This strange clue is the only lead to an agenda as cold as the ocean itself. Kitto must work fast, before the small, isolated community closes ranks. And it’s only a matter of time before the murderer among them strikes again . . .

DI Ben Kitto is days away from his wedding, but he needs to leave preparations behind when the smashed boat of a local lifeboat rescue volunteer’s turns up. The owner – a seasoned though young seaman – is nowhere to be found and everyone is stumped since the sea has been calm for weeks and Jez was far too seasoned and careful for a simple accident to have caused this. Then the gruesome discovery of a hand has everyone fearing the worst. Can Kitto uncover what’s really going on?

I have been enjoying this series, and this latest installment is just as good as the others. I particularly enjoyed how there were snippets at the beginning of most chapters showing the perspective of another character – a close friend of the first victim and a potential suspect for the killer – as I felt this helped deepen the perspective of the reader but also broaden the viewing of the story.

I was pleased with the cast of characters, a number of them now beginning to recur in the series but still retaining that small coastal town feeling that I think will appeal to many of the readers. I definitely found this to be a solid, British police procedural style of mystery and one that I think can easily be read by itself even though it’s quite well into the series by now. While there is some history and back story – particularly around Kitto and his growing family life – this is quite a small community, and I feel the mystery aspect can easily be captured just with this story alone.

I found this to be an interesting and well written mystery, and a good addition to the series.