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Sunday 3 November 2013

Simon Beckett – The Calling of the Grave




review by showhost nov 2013.
One of my chosen holiday reads and another 50p from St Agnes.  I first read ‘Written in Bone’ by this author, which was like an Agatha Christie mystery on a remote Scottish island, and I really enjoyed it.  It has taken me months to find another by this author, so thank you St Agnes.
The Calling of the Grave is based on and around Dartmoor. 
Dr David Hunter, forensic anthropologist (and was alsothe lead character in the previous book I read), was called in when a body was discovered on bleak Dartmoor, believed to be one of the victims of self confessed serial killer Jerome Monk.  Monk had asked to be taken to the desolate moors to help identify the location of the graves but only one of the missing teenage girls' bodies was ever found, and Monk's own controversial involvement in the search led to more failure and an aggressive incident. 
8 years later Jerome Monk escapes from prison and Dr David Hunter is contacted by two different people who worked on the ‘moors’ case with him and whom he had had no contact with until this point.  A lot of events have happened in the last 8 years especially to the doc.  The team who worked on that case 8 years ago, seem to be being targeted by the fugitive Monk & attempted assault & burglary all point to a very desperate Monk. 
But things niggle at Dr Hunter which make him feel that facts don’t add up.  There’s a lot of red herrings & menacing suspense.
I do enjoy these thrillers – more of the same please.

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