Down Into Darkness-David Lawrence

Down Into Darkness
David Lawrence
Dunne, Nov 2007, $24.95
ISBN: 9780312347420

In London, the naked body of a murdered female is left hanging from a tree with the words “DIRTY GIRL” engraved on her back. Police Detective Stella Mooney of the Area Major Investigation Pool is assigned to investigate this brutal killing.

However, she and her AMIP team make no progress as the motive remains unknown. Not long afterward, a naked male corpse of a researcher whose neck was sliced to near decapitation with another etched message “FILTHY COWARD” is found on a bench. Anxious that a serial killer is on the loose although the two homicides have not been linked, Mooney and her AMIP team desperately work to uncover the motives behind the crime before a third victim surfaces.

The forth Mooney English police procedural is a fabulous cat and mouse investigative thriller. The story line is action-packed from the moment the first message appears and never slows down as the cops struggle with solving a case that terrorizes the city (similar to what Son of Sam did to New Yorkers in 1977). Sub-genre fans will appreciate David Lawrence’s latest masterful Mooney tale as this is a gripping winner; just like its predecessors (see COLD KILL, NOTHING LIKE THE NIGHT and THE DEAD SIT AROUND IN A RING).

Harriet Klausner