Tooth and Claw

By Nigel McCrery

Book Overview

From the creator of the hit BBC drama Silent Witness , comes the gripping second instalment in the acclaimed Mark Lapslie series, sees the DCI come under attack from all sides. Perfect for fans of M.J. Arlidge and Angela Marsons. By now he had knifed, strangled, blown up, drowned, bludgeoned and tortured ten people. Ten people that he had never even met, and had no knowledge of... Carl Whittley is seemingly a murderer without a motive. He's just tortured a beautiful, young TV presenter to death and now he's planning to blow an anonymous commuter to pieces. Who will be next? What is the motive behind the attacks? And how will he strike? DCI Mark Lapslie needs something to do. He suffers from a rare neurological condition that has forced him to leave his family and avoid the police station. For his superiors, he is nothing but a nuisance to be avoided - and the spate of unconnected murders is just what they need to send him into retirement. Carl wants every death to be different. More violent, bizarre and shocking. But as Lapslie gets on the scent and the force brings in a profiler, Carl makes a new plan. He hasn't killed a policeman yet . . . Discover the other books in the DCI Mark Lapslie series: Core of Evil, Scream, Thirteenth Coffin and Flesh and Blood.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1849162220
• ISBN13: 9781849162227
• Release Date: September 2018
• Publisher: Quercus Publishing
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.1" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

"Somehow, I believe you are smelling the murderer."

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Lapslie returns in another thriller, assisted by his able Detective Sergeant, Emma Bradbury. But in this novel, Lapslie's disability plays a major role. He suffers from an unusual ailment, synaesthesia, a condition where sound translates as taste, hearing as odors, often in stomach-churning combinations. Separated from his wife because it has become intolerable to endure daily family chaos, Lapslie's "constant sensory anguish" is exacerbated to the point that he cannot work at police headquarters, ensconced at his desk in a quiet country cottage where he interfaces with the department via technology. But when a particularly brutal murder occurs, a female newsreader systematically tortured to death in her home, Mark's supervisor demands his presence as head of the investigation. Although Emma does her best to run interference for her boss, Lapslie is caught in a conundrum: he must be present physically if he is to solve the crime. When another high profile murder occurs, a bombing in a train station, Lapslie is burdened with another case, simply the best man for the job. While juggling autopsies, crime scene investigations and press conferences, Lapslie is overcome, the price of his efforts a severe attack of gut-wrenching odors beyond his tolerance. Although it seems unlikely, Mark links the two crimes, but proving the connection is an impossible task. Mc Crery casts Lapslie's disease in a starring role in this bizarre thriller, as is the demented psyche of a serial killer driven to add more murders to his macabre list of victims. For once, Lapslie's obscure psychological disorder allows him access to the mind of a killer, but at a terrible emotional price. Given the extremes of sensory stimulation Mark must endure, it's hard to imagine that these two cases are not the DCI's swan song as a detective. A thriller with a new twist, a detective who can literally smell his prey, makes for fascinating reading, the killer a study in emotional damage in his own right. Luan Gaines/2010.