Settled Blood

DCI Kate Daniels has been called out to Hadrian’s Wall where the body of a young woman has been found.  Initial evidence points to the body being dumped there from a great height.

Her superintendent calls her in because a wealthy friend of his has reported his daughter missing, and a threatening note has been received.  Could his daughter be the victim?  When he comes to identify the body, it turns out that the victim is not his daughter.  He then receives a warning text; he is obviously being watched.

The following day Daniels gets a call from Detective Superintendent Naylor of County Durham.  He wants to find out about the body, because he has a missing person who matches the description.  Sadly the victim is also the missing girl.  It also appears that the victim was wearing the clothes of the missing girl.

It turns out that the father of the missing girl had been a pilot in the army.  Could that have anything to do with the dropping of the dead girl from the air?  Daniels turns to her former lover and profiler, Jo Soulsby for help getting into the mind of the killer.  The police also turn to a rescue group because trace evidence on one of the victim’s shoes shows a rare mineral found in mines.  They will also need the help of a geologist.  But will it be enough to find the killer and save the girl?

And then a third girl goes missing.  She looks like the two previous victims.  Fortunately she turns up safe and sound a few days later.

The team then gets a break, and a suspect.  But do they have enough evidence to go on, and will they find the missing girl alive?

Author Mari Hannah’s thriller is scary and exciting at the same time.  Well written, it is a page turner, and hard to put down.  An excellent read and I look forward to reading the sequel.