A serial killer is burning people alive in the Lake District's prehistoric stone circles. He leaves no clues and the police are helpless. When his name is found carved into the charred remains of the third victim, disgraced detective Washington Poe is brought back from suspension and into an investigation he wants no part of. Reluctantly partnered with the brilliant but socially awkward civilian analyst, Tilly Bradshaw, the mismatched pair uncover a trail that only he is meant to see. The elusive killer has a plan and for some reason Poe is part of it. As the body count rises, Poe discovers he has far more invested in the case than he could have possibly imagined. And in a shocking finale that will shatter everything he's ever believed about himself, Poe will learn that there are things far worse than being burned alive...
Washington Poe was dismissed from the police for mixing up evidence in an investigation. Now there is a serial killer murdering people, setting them on fire and stringing them up like puppets in stone circles. Can Poe and his team find the killer before they claim more victims?
As the story went on the characters became more likeable. Especially as you found out more about each character as the story progressed. Poe wasn't a very likeable character at the start as he liked starting fights with people and enjoyed being on his own. Then you started to like him more as he would do everything he could to protect his friends. Tilly was a very likeable character as, although she was different from everyone, she just wanted to be liked by people. She was very smart and gained street smarts towards the end of the novel through events that happen within the story line.
The killer in the story was a bit of a surprise twist, especially when you found out who it was at the end of the novel. I was not expecting this person to be the killer. However, it did make sense when you found out the person's backstory and why they did what they did to the victims they chose. One character I didn't like was Gamble as he just wanted to take credit for the whole police investigation and wouldn't let the other officers do their jobs as he believed he was right all the time.
In terms of description there was a bit too much at some points. Such as describing every part of the scenery and not enough of the actual crime scene. You would find out everything the characters could see away from the victim's body and not the body itself. However, I did like the gory nature of describing the bodies when they were described. the overall pacing of the novel was good and I enjoyed that the action/death scenes were so spread out in the overall story. The action started from the first page of the novel and continued right until the end of the novel.
Overall, I gave this novel 4/5 stars. I enjoy reading crime stories and thriller stories. I will definitely be reading the next novel in this series when it is released later this year.
Rating 4/5
