2014 police procedural mystery, second in the Fiona Griffiths
series. A woman's leg and foot are found in a freezer during a house
clearance, and other parts are nearby; then a man's body parts start
showing up in the same area.
So that's one investigation: how were the two connected, and how
did they come to get murdered and scattered (several years apart)?
The fact is that forensic science doesn't have a whole raft of
statistical data on how rapidly a head decomposes when submerged in
a barrel of old lawn mower oil.
There are some obvious connections, but it's the non-obvious ones that
interest Fi and lead to unexpected further evidence. At the same time,
she's looking into her own mysterious background, and dealing with her
rather odd psychological state.
The case develops gradually, and I can't go into any details about it
without giving away points that it's better to discover through
reading, but it twists effectively away from its initial appearances
to something rather more complex and cynical.
The pacing is a bit odd, though, and I kept expecting the book to end
earlier than it did; the resolution is rather drawn out and wastes the
dramatic tension it's built up rather than bleeding it off in
catharsis. I also felt that Fi's interactions with the officer in
charge of the case were a bit of a misstep, with a personal angle that
didn't quite fit the circumstances.
Still, Fi's voice is the main reason to read this, as she does a
variety of dubiously-legal things in pursuit of justice but still
manages to keep this reader's sympathy.
Recommended by Gus. Followed by The Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths.
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