Nothing But Praise

This story is set 8 months after the previous book and the world is in the grip of the Covid pandemic.

After a supposed sighting of his wife (who disappeared 11 years ago when he was on a tour in Afghanistan), Dan keeps searching for her. He suspects that her brother may have something to do with the matter. Her family wants to declare her deceased and that would mean that he’d lose his house because the family covets their part of the inheritance. He feels attracted to dr. Lexi Green but remains faithful and loyal to his wife.

Lexi thinks she’s over the feelings she has for him and is dating a teacher. She and Sarah have a new housemate, DC Khan who moved away from his family’s attempts for an arranged marriage.

At the start of this book, we meet a man with some peculiar, twisted ideas. “They have to understand that you couldn’t go after the predators; there were simply too many of them. Instead, the way to make a difference was to remove their prey, to send those little ones somewhere they’d be safe and happy. It was up to him to continue that important task. He even had a special name for it. Making angels”.

DC Dan Lockhart is called to a crime scene inside a church. A young boy is strangled and posed kneeling with his hands tied together with a white ribbon. The 12-year-old was in foster care but ran away a month earlier. A biblical text is highlighted on the altar. Dan calls on Lexi to help him with this mysterious case. She feels that the killer will kill again.

Lucy Berry, the civil analyst comes into the footlight in this story. She’s someone who’s easy to like.

While they search for the murderer, we meet several young men who could be the perpetrator. We also follow the unnamed killer who’s closing in on his next victim; Charley, a 13-year-old girl who's far too trusting.

Finally, the first book that mentions Covid and its consequences as lockdowns and changed behavioural patterns. It may date the book but I prefer a serious level of reality in my police procedurals. Another thing that sounds very realistic is that Dan has to choose which resources he can use in what circumstances. It’s not like CSI or other TV shows where they throw the big guns at every possible crime scene.

The story of the investigation is interrupted by the story of the murderer. I can’t help but feel a bit sorry for what he went through but his reasoning and justification for his crimes are absolutely out of order. Unfortunately, some of what he says is true. For every perverted child molester you take out of circulation there are 2 that take his place. But that doesn’t justify his actions, those are just twisted. By making the children into angels, he protects them from worse experiences. Well, there’s not much that’s worse than death?

The author created a long list of possible suspects that are sprinkled throughout the narrative. Even Lexi‘s boyfriend fits several criteria. All those men behave suspiciously in one way or another and it increases the suspense to almost unbearable levels. For some of them, I was really happy that they weren’t guilty in the end.

This author is very crafty in creating his lively and credible characters, not just the protagonists and recuring team members, but even the minor characters who’re destined to die. I really rooted for them. I know they’re only fictional but I so wanted Charley to escape the creepy bastard. Most people in this story are likeable characters. That’s a relief after a couple of reads with less agreeable main characters.

I thank Netgalley and Bookouture for the free ARC they provided and this is my honest, unbiased review of it.