Crime Fiction
4*’s
This is the sequel to The Last Winter of Dani Lancing and I wouldn’t recommend reading this one until you have read the first because the background to DI Tom Bevans, who loved and was desperate to catch the killer of his love Dani Lancing is all in the first book. Dani’s parents Jim and Patty feature in both novels too and as readers you see the consequences following the events in the explosive first book. Even the title is linked to the first book where Jim is comforted by Dani’s ghost, and she’s still haunting him in this episode but maybe because he misses her when she’s absent.
The book starts with Tom Bevan opening a cold case where three young girls were killed in a horrific manner. Since Tom is told he isn’t to spend time on the case he enlists the help of the Lancings who look through the files for clues, visit still grieving parents, siblings and friends trying to find the person responsible.
As well as the previously met characters one of the key protagonists in this tale is Franco, a drugs lord form Zimbabwe with a compelling back story. Franco is the man featured in the synopsis, who hears the news of his daughter’s murder over the telephone, although this event actually occurs some way into the novel. I liked Franco’s character who wasn’t your typical crime baron, being much more complex than the normal stereotype but I’m afraid I’m not a big fan of reading about gangs, and the number of henchmen and rivals all got more than a little confusing in places. Despite that I thought this part of the story was well-plotted and added some depth to the overall story. Unfortunately the two halves of the book didn’t always connect as well as they could have and although the plotting behind the serial killer was fantastic, the conclusion seemed to be rushed and this part not given the attention it deserved as it was almost swamped by Franco’s story.
Neither of the two stories were for the faint-hearted, there is a lot of violence, blood and worse. I found the ghost aspect more annoying in this book than the last, and unfortunately despite being well-written the combination of gangs and ghosts meant that I didn’t enjoy the sequel quite as much as I did the first in the series, and yes, I believe from ending there will be another outing for Tom Bevan making this a series.
If you like your thrillers with plenty of action and some original characters then P.D. Viner is an author you should try I could only admire some of the complexities of the plotting in this tale.
I received a copy of this book from the publishers through Amazon Vine in return for this honest review.
