The Fever of the Bone

Well, where do I start with this one?! The problem for me is that I now picture the characters as the actors who play them in the TV series ‘Wire In The Blood' and because of this I find the idea of Tony and Carol having a relationship highly unlikely; however, if I concentrate on book characters I have built up in my imagination, the suggestion of their closeness is more likely.

A body has been found on DCI Carol Jordan's patch - mutilated and murdered in a particularly gruesome way. Carol's superior officer has ordered her not to use Dr Tony Hill on the case so instead the Team have been sent a Tony-trained Police Officer to profile the murderer. This doesn't go well and Carol is desperate to have Tony back on board. Meanwhile, the West Mercia force has called Tony in to help on a case where two bodies have been found - Tony soon realises there is a serial killer at large connected to the Bradfield body, and that their's isn't the first - so he gets to work with Carol and her Team after all!

Carol and Tony realise that the teenage victims are being groomed by a killer who befriends them on the social networking website, RigMarole - promising to fulfil their dreams and then organising to meet them secretly; they are then drugged and murdered before there is even time to report them missing. The killer looks to be highly organised and sophisticated in the ways of all things IT and seemingly the only link between each victim is the website. Tony tells Carol and the Team that he doesn't believe the motive is sexual, despite the mutilations, and when DC Paula McIntyre's new doctor girlfriend Elinor points out a DNA issue that would have otherwise been overlooked, the story takes a different turn. I won't give the rest of this thriller away but once I'd finished reading page 402 I'd predicted the ending and I'm sure I won't be the only reader to do this.

Running along with our main story is a cold-case murder - the Police are convinced that a husband was responsible for the disappearance of his wife and their child some years ago but as the bodies have never been found there was not enough evidence to charge him. With some good detective work three bodies (an extra thrown in for luck!) are found - and Tony advises the team to ensure that they catch the killer. As well as this, we learn more about Tony's deceased father and why he ran out on Tony's mother Vanessa before his birth. I haven't read the previous Tony Hill thriller but I would guess that Tony's inheritance and the fact that Vanessa tried to cheat him out of it was covered in the last book.

I was a little disappointed with this thriller as I felt it was pretty easy to solve and I very nearly gave up on it altogether when McDermid used the line ‘a lazy smile spread across her face like jam on a toddler'. However, the ending is quite sweet for all Tony and Carol fans, and the characters are all likeable - it is a good summer read for all McDermid faithfuls.