THE CUTTING ROOM

In the follow-up to Splinter in the Blood (2018), Liverpool detectives Greg Carver and Ruth Lake are on the trail of a new killer who seeks an audience for his bloody masterpieces.

DCI Greg Carver and DS Ruth Lake are each still experiencing the aftereffects of previous traumas. Carver sees auras, resulting from a head injury and a gunshot that nearly killed him, and Lake bears invisible scars of her own. Any thoughts of Carver taking it easy fall by the wayside when they’re called to an unusual scene: Sections of human brains have been encased in plexiglass and displayed in a public place for all to see. Turns out the brain sections belong to men who have recently gone missing, including the host of a popular reality show called Fact or Fable? Lake, who never forgets a face, dives headlong into the case with her usual hyperfocus. She’ll need it, because the killer, dubbed The Ferryman, considers himself an artist, albeit one who paints in shades of blood red. He’s building a massive social media following, and ghoulish groupies bearing his logo roam the streets, complicating the investigation. Lake is thrown into a tailspin when evidence leads directly to her estranged brother, Adam. Can Carver and Lake catch a killer before he completes his final, fatal masterpiece? Dyer (the writing duo of Margaret Murphy and Helen Pepper) keeps the twists coming while sprinkling in a few clever red herrings, and Carver and Lake are an effective and symbiotic detecting duo. Thankfully brief passages by the killer are interspersed throughout.

Fans of intricate procedurals who like things gritty and gruesome will find a lot to love.