| Publisher | Aria |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 03 October 2019 |
| ISBN-10 | 1788549899 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1788549899 |
| Format | paperback |
| Pages | 280 |
| Price | £ 7.99 |
The Trophy Taker
by
A murderer cuts off ring fingers, rips out hearts and discards them, replacing them with a token and leaves the bodies in graveyards in London. DC Charlie Stafford and her team are desperate to find this killer.
Review
DC Charlie Stafford is a very personable, somewhat untidy but very talented police officer with a talent for recognising faces and a relentless drive to find perpetrators of crime.
When a sadistic racist escapes custody and proceeds to carry out savage assaults on innocent black and Asian people, Charlie is determined to recapture him and to support the victims. Her time, however, becomes seriously diverted when she plays a lead role in seeking to identify and capture a serial killer with a specific MO. This murderer takes his victims to graveyards where he cuts off and takes away their ring finger, removes the heart with sharp surgical equipment and leaves a token in the cavity left in the chest. The bodies are then displayed on a grave.
The killer is clearly enjoying his actions as the rate of murders increases. The pressure is on the police team to solve these crimes before the press gets hold of the details.
The novel is very well written. The main police protagonists are sketched deftly with likeable character traits and believable professional relationships. The cast of potential suspects are diverse and similarly well described. They all have plausible motives and are sufficiently odd to make them all potentially the killer. The pace of the story is very well managed with a growing sense of urgency and growing antipathy to all of those who could be guilty. Once again, I had to put everything on hold while I read the last 50 pages because I could not wait to find out whodunit.
The city of London is almost another character and the appearance, culture and atmosphere of the various areas covered in the plot are vividly described. I look forward to reading more by Sarah Flint.
When a sadistic racist escapes custody and proceeds to carry out savage assaults on innocent black and Asian people, Charlie is determined to recapture him and to support the victims. Her time, however, becomes seriously diverted when she plays a lead role in seeking to identify and capture a serial killer with a specific MO. This murderer takes his victims to graveyards where he cuts off and takes away their ring finger, removes the heart with sharp surgical equipment and leaves a token in the cavity left in the chest. The bodies are then displayed on a grave.
The killer is clearly enjoying his actions as the rate of murders increases. The pressure is on the police team to solve these crimes before the press gets hold of the details.
The novel is very well written. The main police protagonists are sketched deftly with likeable character traits and believable professional relationships. The cast of potential suspects are diverse and similarly well described. They all have plausible motives and are sufficiently odd to make them all potentially the killer. The pace of the story is very well managed with a growing sense of urgency and growing antipathy to all of those who could be guilty. Once again, I had to put everything on hold while I read the last 50 pages because I could not wait to find out whodunit.
The city of London is almost another character and the appearance, culture and atmosphere of the various areas covered in the plot are vividly described. I look forward to reading more by Sarah Flint.
Reviewed 21 November 2020 by John Barnbrook
