Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Skin by Mo Hayder .

A body is found, it looks like suicide but Detective Inspector Jack Caffery has his doubts. Some things do not add up. Skin is a spooky tale and is the 4th thriller featuring Jack Caffery. Skin was written in 2009 and has 459 pages. You do not need to have read any of the previous Jack Caffery thrillers because each novel is stand-alone. Skin does however carry on from the 3rd thriller called Ritual which I read in May 2009 and also features the specialist Police diver Sergeant Flea Marley. Lurking in the background are also our old friends the Walking Man and the Tokoloshe .

Skin reveals a very good atmosphere of Bristol and the surrounding area, where I lived for 20 years. This novel has a good structure as the story develops. There is plenty of detail, not just Police procedure but autopsies and diving. Not everything is central to the plot but this is a bonus, not a distraction. Who is lurking in the shadows? Why did Lucy die? Who is the killer, what could be their motive and are the many characters linked? Skin has a good pace for your daily read. There is a good tension running throughout this book as you wonder about the title of this novel - skin - a sexual tension that keeps you wondering. You read through the story and begin to feel sorry for the mess that Jack Caffery and Flea Marley are making of things. I will vote this book 4 stars on Book Army because it is a good crime thriller. Skin has a good ending that gives a feeling of relief for the reader. Although both Detective Inspector Jack Caffery and Sergeant Flea Marley had got themselves into a right mess, it all works out okay in the end. Then you feel a warmth for both central characters and want to get a copy of Mo Hayder's next novel called Gone.
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