M for Murder by Keri Beevis #PublicationDay Party Blogspot #BloodhoundBooks

Book blurb

Twenty-Six Letters. But only one Killer?

In 1989 the Alphabet Killer, Professor Rodney Boone, murdered eight students. The victims, ‘A’ to ‘H’, were each found with their surname initial carved into their neck. Victim nine narrowly escaped and the murderer was left to burn to death.

Eight years later and rookie police officer, Rebecca Angell, is thrown headlong into assisting a murder investigation. A body is found floating in the sewer, bearing the initial ‘J’. The investigators are convinced they are dealing with a copycat killer, but Boone’s body was never recovered…

As Angell scrambles to uncover the truth, the body count continues to rise, and it soon becomes apparent that the killer is intent on completing the alphabet…

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My thoughts

San Palimo, USA it’s 1997 when we meet Rodney Boone waiting for them to come for him.

Rebecca Angell is a newly appointed detective in Juniper. She and her partner, Victor Boaz, are chasing a thief when they run into a sewage worker. He’s found something. It’s in the sewer, it’s a body. The autopsy finds a letter ‘J’ cut into the body.

So begins an intriguing story of two sets of serial killings – one, the Alphabet Murders, an old case from the late eighties, one in 1997. Both in Juniper. Are they connected?

The FBI come in to take the lead on the 1997 case insisting that this case has nothing to do with the Rodney Boone Alphabet Murders. Rodney Boone died in a fire.

Rebecca Angell 26 and feisty, from Swallow Falls a small town, feels she has a lot to prove but optimistic. Like everyone she has a few flaws but no major baggage. She’s also bright. A believable and likeable character.

So, when the FBI agents come she questions some of their preconceptions. Especially how they know Boone is dead. Yes, he was badly injured. Yes, the building burnt – but no body was found. Although Rachel agrees it’s a stretch that he could actually be committing a new murder. She feels there is a connection.

Detective Victor Boaz, a lazy cop, whose quite the sexist – thinks he’s god’s gift to women.

The FBI agents, Hickok and Sutton, adamant that Boone is dead forge ahead. And, when more murders happen, they focus their sights on Lawrie.

Lawrie, a professor with something to hide, and his seemingly perfect young wife, Kylan. Is Lawrie really the murderer? There’s a lot pointing that way. Still, given who Kylan is, surely that would be too callous. Wouldn’t it?

Then there’s Justine, a student who’s got quite the crush on Lawrie. Hanging back after class, following him around campus her crush is fast becoming an obsession. Then she breaks into his house. She was seen.

These are the main characters in this story. They are well drawn. The two cases alternate through the book, the chapters are clearly headed up so it’s easy enough to follow.

I felt both were compelling, enabling tension to build up as the murders mount as the cases are unravelled and we are effortlessly led through the twists and turns to the final shocking denouement.

An enjoyable read, written with pace, with twists and turns that will keep you wanting to read this intriguing story to the final page.

My Thanks …

My thanks to Ashley at Bloodhound Books, Heather for the invite to join todays Publication Day Party and to the publisher for an eCopy of M for Murder by Keri Beevis

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Information

Publisher: Bloodhound Books (26 Feb 2020)

Buy: M for Murder – currently a snip at 99p

Author

Keri Beevis wrote her first novel at age twenty, but it was a further twenty years before she was published after winning a contract in the Rethink Press New Novels Competition 2012. 

Born in the village of Old Catton, less than a mile from where Anna Sewell was living when she wrote Black Beauty, Keri had a passion for reading and writing from a young age, though her tastes veered more to the macabre. 

Today she still lives in Norwich, along with her two naughty kitties, Ellie and Lola, and a plentiful supply of red wine (her writing fuel), where she writes a comedic lifestyle column for a local magazine. She loves Hitchcock movies, exploring creepy places, and gets extremely competitive in local pub quizzes. She is also a self-confessed klutz.

Keri joined the Bloodhound team in 2019 and her first release with them, the psychological thriller, Dying To Tell, which is set in her beautiful home county of Norfolk, has been her biggest success to date, with over 1200 four and five star ratings on Goodreads.

Her new novel, Deep Dark Secrets (which was previously published as The Darkness Beneath) was released in January 2020.

Keri Beevis has a website and blog. You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook.