See No Evil by David Fennell

Synopsis

Two men are found dead in London’s Battersea Park. One of the bodies has been laid out like a crucifix – with his eyes removed and placed on his open palms.

Detective Inspector Grace Archer and her caustic DS, Harry Quinn, lead the investigation. But when more bodies turn up in a similar fashion, they find themselves in a race against time to find the sadistic killer.

The hunt leads them to Ladywell Playtower in Southeast London, the home to a religious commune lead by the enigmatic Aaron Cronin. Archer and Quinn suspect Cronin’s involvement but his alibis are watertight, and the truth seemingly buried. If Archer is to find the killer, she must first battle her way through religious fanatics, London gangsters – and her own demons . . .

Review
See No Evil is the second book in David Fennell’s DCI Grace Archer series. This book picks up after the @nonymous case from the first book. DCI Archer is just returning to work when there is a brutal murder in a park that sees the victim laid out, a cross carved into his face and his eyeballs in his hands. With very little forensic evidence, DCI Archer and her partner DS Harry Quinn find themselves trying to put a case together, but with further murders in the same MO, they soon realise they have another serial killer on the loose.

When I read the first book in this series, The Art of Death, I was drawn in by the troubled charater of DI Archer, and her caustic partner DS Quinn. Archer has to deal with problems at work as she got her job after invstigating the previous DI for corruption. There are those at the station that still resent her for the and want to see her fail, or eve better be dismissed. DS Quinn is not one of those, they make a stange pair, being total opposites, but they work well together. I loved watching their realtionship grow through See No Evil, the trust and confidence leading to both being able to open up to each other about troubles from their past, bringing a new dimension to their relationship and the plot.

In See No Evil David Fennell has created a troubled and horrific serial killer; cutting out the vitims eyes and placing them on their hands is gruesome. The intrict plot line, combined with the sub plot of a young woman being killed by a car and found with drugs in her system, kept my attention throughout. To say it was twisty is an understatement, with the plot going off in different tangents, and a suspected killer with an alibi, I honestly had no idea where this book was going. Into this we are also witness to DI Archer having to deal with issues from her past.

Do I recommend See No Evil? Yes, I definitely do. This is brilliantly plotted and well crafted leaving me wanting more from David Fennell, and Archer and Quinn. I loved learning more about DI Archer and DS Quinn, and seeing their relationship develop, and I felt invested in their stories. Intelligent and deliciously dark this is a riviting and compelling read, and one I highly recommend.

I would like to thank Zaffre and Tracy Fenton from Compulsive Readers for the invite to be part of this blog tour in return for my honest review.