A kidnap, a theft, and a murderous moon-worshipping cult: Detective Sergeant Milburn has his work cut out to solve several cases that all appear at once.
Milburn's job is trickier as both victims are friends with his girlfriend. He desperately needs to solve the cases but has to keep his personal involvement secret. With the clock ticking down on the fate of the second missing woman, the pressure ramps up.
Penfold, the detective's enigmatic surfer friend, is called on to help investigate. His puzzle-solving genius helps sift real clues from red herrings. The struggle for leads is constant, until it becomes clear that Penfold and Milburn are, in fact, central to all the crimes.
This is the second Penfold mystery novel, set in Durham in the north of England.
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'Where are we going? The pub's there?' Sue pointed back across the T-junction where they'd just turned left into Old Elvet. CHAPTER ZERO, THURSDAY
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(Penfold Books, 5 November 2020, 200 pages, ebook, #ARC from the author and voluntarily reviewed, #BlogTour 5 November via @RandomTTours)
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I haven't read the first book in the series and wasn't sure what to expect from this book. I don't read a lot of cosy mystery so thought this would be something a little bit different. I enjoyed it a lot, a bit lighter than the stuff I usually read. The characters, DS Millburn and Penfold are refreshing, well written and come across as very real. Penfold is my favourite, he's a laid back Aussie surf bum who's much smarter than I expected, and he gathers the clues for Millburn to make sense of. There's another character, DC Meredith who just hovers around, seemingly with a grudge against Millburn. This is lighter than crime fiction I usually read but a bit darker than I expect for cosy mystery. I enjoyed this and might read the first book.
