Death in the Woods
A series of copycat suicides, prompted by a mysterious online blogger, causes DCI Jude
Satterthwaite more problems than usual, intensifying his concerns about his troublesome
younger brother, Mikey. Along with his partner, Ashleigh O’Halloran, and a local
psychiatrist, Vanessa Wood, Jude struggles to find the identity of the malicious troll
gaslighting young people to their deaths.
The investigation stirs grievances both old and new. What is the connection with the
hippies camped near the Long Meg stone circle? Could these suicides have any
connection with a decades old cold case? And, for Jude, the most crucial question of all.
Is it personal — and could Mikey be the final target?
Purchase Links
Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09BG9BY1N
Amazon US https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09BG9BY1N
My Review
Thanks to Rachel, of Rachel’s Random Resources, for organising this tour and to the author for my copy of their book.
I’ve never read any of Jo Allen’s books before but the blurb intrigued me. Suicide is a hard subject to talk about with sensitivity. It’s not a crime either, not any more, so it’s rarely the subject of crime fiction. I’ve done some ASIST training – suicide intervention, and it wrecked me.
Jo Allen handles this sensitive subject well. She has her characters make clear that it isn’t a crime, but a rash of unusual suicides is something that catches the attention of the public. People want the police to ‘do something’, but what are they supposed to do? You can’t lock up everyone in the age group at risk.
But then, sometimes it’s not as simple as vulnerable people copycat killing themselves. Sometimes, there’s someone pushing them to do it. And that is a crime.
The main characters of Jude and Ashleigh are in a relationship but they’re both hung up on their ex’s. They’re also investigating a rash of suicides around Long Meg, a stone circle in Cumbria. Their Superintendent doesn’t want them wasting time and resources on obvious suicides. Even if there’s a weird website that seems to be encouraging them. Even if the psychologist helping them has warned that there will be more. Even if there’s a connection to two murders from more than twenty years ago.
I found this novel quite gripping. I read it in four or five hours on Tuesday afternoon, instead of going swimming. I sat down to eat my dinner and didn’t stop reading until I had to stop because I was running the creative writing café. Then I read more and had tea. It was a late night.
The characters are interesting and Jude particularly is rather unique. He doesn’t seem to know how they be anything but a detective and comes to regret it at the end. The representation of Ashleigh and Scott’s disfunctional relationship, and the back and forth that happens when a person is trying to leave an abuser is quite good. The New Agers are lovely people, and their daughter’s extreme reaction to her upbringing is what you’d expect. It’s funny, but at the same time understandable. Vanessa Wood and her father are strange characters, seemingly unimportant in the case of Leslie, and a Deus ex machina in the case of Vanessa, but they are surprisingly important.
The plot is complex and interesting. I was definitely gripped by the story. I had almost worked out who the killer was, based on their name and the title, not because of anything else. In hindsight, as with the investigation, I saw the hints and red herrings for what they were.
The description of the environment was amazing, the author obviously knows the area well and loves it. The dead tree in the centre of the field is hauntingly described. The final suicide attempt breaks the spell it holds over the community. It’s actually quite funny in that ‘releasing tension’ way. I know the area a little, having spent a lot of time in Cumbria and Northumbria as a child. The atmosphere is beautifully described and took me right back there.
Good crime novel. I’m seriously considering getting some of Allen’s other books.
Author Bio –
Jo Allen was born in Wolverhampton and is a graduate of Edinburgh, Strathclyde and the Open University, with undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in geography and Earth science. She’s been writing for pleasure and publication for as long as she can remember. After a career in economic consultancy she took up writing and was first published under the name Jennifer Young, in genres of short stories, romance and romantic suspense. She wrote online articles on travel and on her favourite academic subject, Earth science. In 2017 she took the plunge and began writing the genre she most likes to read — crime.
Jo lives in the English Lakes, where the DCI Satterthwaite series is set. In common with all her favourite characters, she loves football (she’s a season ticket holder with her beloved Wolverhampton Wanderers) and cats.
Social Media Links –
https://www.facebook.com/JoAllenAuthor
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