Past Life

by David Mark

Overview

DS Aector McAvoy must face the dark, disturbing secrets of his past if he's to keep his family safe.

No, he tells himself. No, it’s not familiar. No, it’s not like before . . .

The clairvoyant is found with her tongue crudely carved out, a shard of blue crystal buried deep within her mangled ribcage.

The crime scene plunges DS Aector McAvoy back twelve years, to a case from when he was starting out. An investigation that proved a turning point in his life - but one he's tried desperately to forget.

To catch the killer, he must face his past. Face the terrible thing he did. But doing so also means facing the truth about his beloved wife Roisin, and the dark secrets she's keeping have the power to destroy them both completely.

David Mark brings Hull to dark, brutal life in this gripping novel in the critically acclaimed DS McAvoy series - a perfect pick for fans of Denise Mina, Val McDermid and Peter Robinson.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781448314522
Publisher:	Severn House
Publication date:	08/27/2024
Series:	A DS McAvoy novel , #9
Edition description:	Main - Large Print
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	5.79(w) x 8.74(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

David Mark spent seven years as crime reporter for the Yorkshire Post and now writes full-time. The first novel in his DS McAvoy series, Dark Winter, was selected for the Harrogate New Blood panel (where he was Reader in Residence) and was a Richard & Judy pick and a Sunday Times bestseller. Dead Pretty was longlisted for the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger in 2016. He lives in Northumberland with his family.

Editorial Reviews

10/11/2021

British author Mark’s fine ninth police procedural featuring Hull Det. Sgt. Aector McAvoy (after 2019’s Cold Bones) opens with psychic Dymphna Lowell providing a reading for a taciturn stranger who shows up unexpectedly at her isolated house. She can tell just by looking at him he doesn’t have a promising future. After calling her a charlatan, the man bashes Lowell’s head with one of her crystals, strangles her with her necklace, cuts out her tongue, and sticks a crystal shard into her rib cage. The m.o. reminds McAvoy of a case he handled 12 years earlier as a new copper that he thought was closed. Palm reader Eva-Jayne Puck was strangled in her flat by someone who drove something sharp into her torso. The Puck inquiry has a personal dimension for McAvoy, as her niece, who was seen fleeing the scene of the killing, is now his wife. Mark’s experiences as a Hull crime reporter pay off in his realistic portrayals of both cops and civilians, and he presents his lead’s inner life in a nuanced way that doesn’t interfere with the pace and suspense of the dramatic plotline. Ian Rankin fans will be pleased. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

'Polished prose, lovable recurring characters, and a stunning revelation make this a mystery to savor'  –Kirkus Reviews Starred Review

’Ian Rankin fans will be pleased’  –Publishers Weekly

'[Mark is] on the level of Scottish and English contemporaries such as Denise Mina, Val McDermid, and Peter Robinson’  –Library Journal Starred Review of Cruel Mercy

'To call Mark’s novels police procedurals is like calling the Mona Lisa a pretty painting'  –Kirkus Reviews Starred Review of Cruel Mercy

'Strong prose, intriguing characters, and high tension make this a standout'  –Publishers Weekly Starred Review of Cruel Mercy

From the Publisher

★ 2021-09-15
Aector McAvoy fans, rejoice! The highly regarded Hull police officer is back in a searing exposé of buried secrets.

When a fortuneteller is found murdered and mutilated, Detective Superintendent Trish Pharaoh and her team catch a case which, for Aector, turns into a devastating replay of the past. Twelve years ago, Aector’s future wife, Roisin Teague, an Irish Traveler and the apple of her powerful father’s eye, was staying with her aunt, clairvoyant Eva-Jayne Puck, to keep out of the way of a vicious feud between her family and a rival clan. When someone killed and mutilated Eva-Jayne in her own apartment, Roisin barely escaped. Aector learned from a CCTV image that Roisin, whom he’d been unable to forget after having "half killed" some men who’d raped her several years earlier, was a witness to Eva-Jayne's killing. Instead of turning her in, he searched for her, and she helped him survive a vicious attack by the hired killer known as Cromwell. Now married to Roisin, a conflicted Aector lives with the false belief that his father-in-law killed Cromwell. Roisin, who knows better, has recurring nightmares she refuses to discuss with her husband. Now Cromwell’s come for revenge, using Aector and Roisin’s children as bait. Aector goes rogue to protect his children, who are caught up in a case that has become ever more complex and brutally dangerous.

Polished prose, lovable recurring characters, and a stunning revelation make this a mystery to savor.

Kirkus Reviews