Dead Jealous - a Calladine and Bliss investigation
DEAD JEALOUS by Helen H. Durrant Joffe Books Mystery & Thrillers Pub Date 17 Jul 2017
Review
Once again Helen Durrant has crafted an impeccable police procedural where she successfully combines three complicated cases - two current and one from 17 years previous.
17years ago, Josie Wilkins’s daughter Jessica disappeared without a trace. No clues and no witnesses. Now someone has discovered an urn accompanied by what appears to be the toddler’s effects
Flora Appleton, a 16 year old is discovered in the boot of an abandoned car after being missing a week - a fact not reported by the mother
A local money lender with known violent tendencies is knifed and pushed over the rail of the housing block.
With the recent death of Imogen weighing on their minds, and Rocco away at an IT course, Calladine and his team are short-handed and out of sorts. His DS, Ruth Bayliss is having problems with her husband and is trying to balance her career with being the mother of an infant. Part of what makes Durrant’s stories so realistic and believable is that her characters are individuals with lives. They are more than their job - just as the wider cast are more than victims or suspects. You see the impact these cases have on the lives of those involved.
If you are looking for a well done British Police Procedural, Dead Jealous is a fantastic choice. I’ve read a number of Durrant’s novels and have enjoyed every one.
5 / 5
I received a copy of Dead Jealous from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
--Crittermom
Description
DEAD JEALOUS by Helen H. Durrant A teenage girl’s body is found in the back of a car on the notorious Hobfield housing estate. No one had reported her missing, but she’s been dead for a week. Meanwhile, an old jar is brought into the station. It was found carefully wrapped in a blanket, with a child’s pink hairclip. The jar contains ashes and bone fragments. Seventeen years ago Detective Tom Calladine had been part of a team investigating the disappearance of Jessica Wilkins. Her mother had taken her to Leesdon Park one summer afternoon. She went to get the child an ice cream and when she returned her daughter was gone. Over the years there were no sightings, no witnesses — nothing. Will there finally be closure for this unsolved mystery? And why was the girl found in the car killed and why are her friends not telling her the whole story? Detectives Tom Calladine and Ruth Bayliss will unravel a web of lies and pain, in this fast-moving and gripping crime mystery. Full of twists and turns, this is a crime thriller that will keep you turning the pages until the stunning conclusion If you like Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott, Mel Sherratt, Ruth Rendell, or Mark Billingham you will enjoy this exciting new crime fiction writer. DEAD JEALOUS is book seven of a new series of detective thrillers featuring D.S. Ruth Bayliss and D.I. Tom Calladine
