Unquiet Souls by Liz Mistry ARC REVIEW

T ITLE: Unquiet Souls by Liz Mistry
PUBLISHER: Bloodhound Books
EDITION: Kindle
RELEASE DATE: 27 July 2016
PAGES: 416
SOURCE: Publisher

I was given an ARC by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. WHAT'S IT'S ABOUT

When the body of a prostitute is found, followed by the discovery of children locked in an attic, DI Gus McGuire is handed the case. But what at first appears to be a simple murder soon turns into an international manhunt for the members of a twisted child trafficking ring.

McGuire who is suffering with his own emotional problems, must pick his way through the web of deceit and uncover the truth in time before the body count rises.

Can McGuire identify The Matchmaker before it's too late? And can he trust those he is working with?

EXTRACT

When he flexed his fingers they cracked and a spiral of rusty flecks floated onto the cream duvet. For a second he stared at them, each piece testament to his actions the previous night. His blood was unwired now, his heart anguished and guilt-free. The crushing, numb awareness of the way he'd snapped was all too clear. He knew what he'd done and he felt sick.

WHAT I THOUGHT

Unquiet Souls is an impressive debut. I really enjoyed reading it. The characters are all well-written, come across as real flesh and blood and easy to feel a connection to. I thought Gus was the best character. There's something vulnerable about him that I sort of fell in love with. I thought the plot was riveting and original. I really like the pace of the novel - not to fast but not slow either and events rattle along. Events in Unquiet Souls appear not to be related at first, for example the murder of the prostitute and the discovery of the stolen children don't appear to be obviously lined to a case 12 years ago involving a child trafficking ring. I liked how the author gradually reveals how all these little, often unsettling events are connected and how she reveals that one event you thought was definitely connected had nothing to do with the stolen children. There are a lot of red herrings in Unquiet Souls where events lead you to think that happened or this happened before your realise you're being led down the garden path and something else entirely happened. I like it when an author pulls off misdirection and keeps you guessing until the final pages. Unquiet Souls is an example of great, original crime fiction. I look forward to the author's next novel.