A series of copycat suicides, prompted by a mysterious online blogger, cause DCI Jude Satterthwaite more problems than usual, intensifying his concerns about his troublesome younger brother, Mikey. Along with his partner, Ashleigh O’Halloran, and a local psychiatrist, Vanessa Wood, Jude struggles to find the identity of the malicious troll gaslighting young people to their deaths.

The investigation stirs grievances both old and new. What is the connection with the hippies camped near the Long Meg stone circle? Could these suicides have any connection with a decades-old cold case? And, for Jude, the most crucial question of all. Is it personal — and could Mikey be the final target? 

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Their relationship was rocky at best, but they clung to its wreckage.

 He was a clever man; she understood, now, just how much so. There was value in keeping your cleverness hidden, rather than flaunting it.

 

My Review:

 

Jo Allen has produced yet another shrewdly plotted and slowly evolving mystery that kept me guessing. I enjoyed the characters’ personal stories as much as their puzzling cases and this installment was fraught with relationship ills for both the heart and family. Jude is a complicated character, as was the perpetrator in this piece, and they were well matched. But of course, the DCI always holds the final trump.