Sorrow Bound: A Detective McAvoy Novel

Oppressively muggy summer weather adds to the menacing atmosphere pervading Hull, a Yorkshire city plagued by the brutal violence of the new crew running the local drug trade. But soon DS Aector McAvoy and the entire Serious and Organized Crime Unit are distracted by even more heinous crimes—a string of murders that could be a sign of a serial killer at work. McAvoy believes the deaths to be copycat murders, retribution for the justice system's inept management of a serial rapist's case years ago. To complicate matters, the blackmail of McAvoy's colleague by the mysterious new boss of the drug ring puts McAvoy's lovely, young, Irish traveler wife and their children in grave danger. This third series entry (after The Dark Winter and Original Skin) would do nicely as a stand-alone as well. Mark's page-turning police procedural starring the appealing, if conflicted, McAvoy is a sure bet for fans of dark crime fiction set in Britain. Mark is particularly skilled at brief, effective characterization and at establishing an ominous, suspense-ridden setting in which his hero must struggle to reconcile his concept of justice and his admirable integrity with the evil that men do.