Dark Truths

by A.J. Cross

Overview

When a headless body is discovered on a popular jogging trail, Detective Inspector Bernard Watts and his team are plunged headlong into a baffling murder investigation. Why would someone stab to death a young woman on her daily run - and take her head?

When a close examination of the crime scene results in a shocking discovery linking the present murder to a past crime, criminologist Will Traynor is brought in to assist the police. Aware of Traynor's troubled past and already having to deal with inexperienced rookie PC Chloe Judd on his team, Watts is sceptical that Traynor will bring anything useful to the investigation.

He's about to be proved very wrong ...

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780727889065
Publisher:	Severn House
Publication date:	01/07/2020
Series:	A Will Traynor forensic mystery , #1
Edition description:	Main
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.71(w) x 8.86(h) x 8.03(d)

About the Author

A.J. Cross is a forensic psychologist with over twenty years' experience in the field. She lives in Birmingham with her jazz-musician husband and is the author of five Kate Hanson Cold Case mysteries.

Editorial Reviews

11/04/2019

Set in Birmingham, England, this convoluted series launch from Cross (the Kate Hanson mysteries) introduces obsessive criminologist Will Traynor, who has never come to terms with his wife’s unsolved murder. Taking center stage is methodical Det. Insp. Bernard Watts, who was once the head of the Unsolved Crimes Unit that collaborated with forensic psychologist Kate Hanson and has been disbanded. Watts is now the senior investigative officer on the gruesome case of a decapitated jogger, whose head can’t be found. Evidence of related crimes leads Watts to ask for additional assistance, which includes Traynor, who sees connections between the newly discovered deaths and that of his wife, an opinion not shared by the rest of the team. Traynor’s erratic behavior is often more of a hindrance than a help. Despite the book’s billing as a Will Traynor mystery, readers may prefer to see more of the plodding Watts than the unstable Traynor in the sequel. Agent: Camilla Wray, Darley Anderson Literary (U.K.). (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

2019-10-27
DI Bernard Watts must break in a new team as he tracks a serial killer.

It's bad enough that his trusted forensic psychologist, Kate Hanson, has gone off to Boston with Lt. Joe Corrigan, the American cop she met on the Della Harrington case (Cold, Cold Heart, 2018). Now Watts has to deal with rookie PC Chloe Judd, whose enthusiasm far outstrips her expertise, as he explores the murder of Zoe Roberts, killed during an early morning run down a public trail. This new murder is particularly unpleasant all on its own, since the killer took the trouble to remove the jogger's head from her body. But the discovery of several more skulls buried in shallow earth not far from the scene of Zoe's murder lets poor Watts know that he's now faced with a detective's worst nightmare—an active serial killer. Watts' investigation becomes still more complicated when the higher-ups who've decided to bring in a criminologist to profile the killer insist on choosing William Traynor, whose keen insight is paired with an obsession over the unsolved murder of his own wife, Claire. Between Traynor, who sees every murder as Claire's, and Judd, who's seen exactly zero murders before these, methodical Watts has his hands full.

Watching an old pro herd cats as he cracks a tough case should tickle procedural fans everywhere.

Kirkus Reviews

"Another keep-'em-guessing instalment of this popular and sharply written crime series ... Characters with notable depth, a provocative plot, and a nifty twist make this a procedural to savor"

Cold Heart Booklist on Cold

"A gripping, suspenseful, cleverly plotted story with plenty of unusual twists and a smart, independent heroine"

Booklist on A Little Death

"This series debut is a solid, skillfully written police drama with plenty of twists"

Booklist

"This series debut is a solid, skillfully written police drama with plenty of twists"

Booklist