Alice has a good job as a psychologist, but to escape her
past traumas and ease her anxieties she runs throughout
London. During one of these late night runs she comes across
the dead body of a woman in Crossbones Yard, a former
graveyard for prostitutes. The wounds on the body are
reminiscent of a pair of serial killers, Ray and Marie
Benson, who killed thirteen women before they were jailed.
Due to her expertise, the police ask for her help as a
psychological profiler to help catch the killer. The deeper
she delves into the case, the more dangerous it becomes for
her and her family and friends. Now she must catch the
killer, if only to save herself.
With a Silence of the Lamb" and Jack the Ripper feel to
it, CROSSBONES YARD is a horrific crime story that I was
still thinking about a week after I finished it. It leaves
an impact on the reader with the paralleled content and, at
times, graphic violence. The main character, Alice Quentin,
is running on high anxiety, living with her tortured past
and dealing with a troubled present. The only way she can
temporarily escape her anxiety is to run through the streets
of London late at night or before the sun rises. This lends
her to experience the seedy crime in the dark, which she
does quickly by stumbling upon a dead body. When this story
starts, there's no stopping it as Alice becomes quickly and
deeply entwined in a series of murders, killers and her
sometimes position as a profiler for the police department.
There is a delicious twist on who is revealed to be the true
killer in the end, which was wholly satisfying. With
CROSSBONES YARD
being Kate Rhodes' debut novel, I was surprised due to the
seasoned feel of the writing, fantastic pacing and
characters. I will definitely be picking up her next work.
Introducing Alice Quentin, a London psychologist with
family
baggage, who finds herself at the center of a grisly
series
of murders
Alice Quentin is a psychologist with some painful family
secrets, but she has a good job, a good-looking
boyfriend,
and excellent coping skills, even when that job includes
evaluating a convicted killer who’s about to be released
from prison. One of the highlights of her day is going
for a
nice, long run around her beloved London—it's impossible
to
fret or feel guilty about your mother or brother when
you're
concentrating on your breathing—until she stumbles upon a
dead body at a former graveyard for prostitutes,
Crossbones
Yard.
The dead woman’s wounds are alarmingly similar to the
signature style of Ray and Marie Benson, who tortured and
killed thirteen women before they were caught and sent to
jail. Five of their victims were never found. That was
six
years ago, and the last thing Alice wants to do is to
enter
the sordid world of the Bensons or anyone like them. But
when the police ask for her help in building a
psychological
profile of the new murderer, she finds that the killer—
and
the danger to her and the people she cares about—may
already
be closer than she ever imagined.
With gripping suspense and a terrific new heroine, Kate
Rhodes's Crossbones Yard introduces a powerful new voice
in
crime fiction.
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