Hi, all:
I bring you a novel by an author I discovered thanks to the reviews of other members of Rosie’s Book Review Team. She regularly offers her books for review, but I had never managed to read one of them before. After reading several reviews of this one, I thought it sounded perfect for me. And now, I don’t think this will be the last one.
Cold in the Earth by Thorne Moore
How long can the truth stay buried?
When a murderer is convicted, the survivors of the victim can bury their loved one and move on. But what if they are denied even that?
A disturbed young man has been killing girls, but where has he hidden them? Twenty-five years on, their families are still waiting for the chance to bring them home. Ex-detective constable Rosanna Quillan is determined to bring it about, but time is running out and she discovers there are more lost souls than she had realised.
About the author:
Thorne was born in Luton and graduated from Aberystwyth University (history) and from the Open University (Law). She set up a restaurant with her sister and made miniature furniture for collectors. She lives in Pembrokeshire, which forms a background for much of her writing, as does Luton.
She writes psychological mysteries, or “domestic noir,” exploring the reason for crimes and their consequences, rather than the details of the crimes themselves. and her first novel, “A Time For Silence,” was published by Honno in 2012, with its prequel, “The Covenant,” published in 2020. “Motherlove” and “The Unravelling” were also published by Honno. “Shadows” is set in an old mansion in Pembrokeshire and is paired with “Long Shadows,” which explains the history and mysteries of the same old house. Her latest crime novels, “Fatal Collision” and “Bethulia” are published by Diamond Crime. She’s a member of Crime Cymru.
She has also written the Science Fiction trilogy “Salvage,” including “Inside Out,” “Making Waves” and “By The Book” as well as a collection of short stories, “Moments of Consequence.”
My review:
This is the first book I have read by this author, although I have come across many great reviews of her work by bloggers I follow and trust and have been intrigued by it for a while. I’m happy I finally got to read one of the stories, and I’m sure it won’t be the last one.
I read plenty of crime and thriller books, and this novel seemed a good fit. It is not a standard crime novel, though.
We have the investigation of the crime (crimes), at the beginning of the book, which takes place in the early 1990s, is pretty interesting (as there had been several mistakes and missed opportunities during the police investigation and the connection between different cases was missed) in its own right, but it is solved reasonably quickly. In some ways, this book starts where many others finish. Yes, a serial killer —a pretty mentally disturbed serial killer, who was protected and covered up by his mother— has been caught and imprisoned, but other than one of his victims, the rest of the young girls he has killed are still missing, and there is no closure for their families. Although Detective Inspector (later Superintendent) Cannell is quite determined to find them, he doesn’t manage before his retirement, and he keeps thinking about the girls and putting off other plans because the girls and their families keep gnawing at him.
Unfortunately, we all know of real cases where something similar has happened, and there are families still suffering, knowing their beloved ones haven’t found the rest they deserve. This makes this novel both, gripping and also moving, and it does not take much of a stretch of the imagination to get into the hearts and minds of most of those involved and empathise with them.
26 years later, Rosanna Quillan, a woman with a traumatic past who left the police force because it didn’t match her expectations (it didn’t always manage to help achieve justice for those involved) ends up being roped into investigating and trying to find out the bodies of the girls, because the mother of one of them is terminally ill and fast running out of time. She hesitates before she agrees to take the case, but after doing some research, she realises there are some leads she could follow, and she becomes emotionally invested as well. Time is of the essence and that means she has to make some difficult decisions and go down more than a few morally grey paths. Keeping her hands clean is not always possible and weighing the pros and cons of everything she does and what the consequences might be for those she meets turns her mission into a fraught and conflicting endeavour.
The story is told in the third-person, mostly from Rosanna’s point of view; there are some chapters from Malcolm Cannell’s perspective (with his wonderful wife, Barbara, and their two dogs also playing an important part); and some snippets where readers get to peep into other character’s thoughts. The author is very good at putting readers in the heads and minds of her characters, and we get to know them and share in their feelings and way of thinking, even though we aren’t given an excess of background information and the action never slows down for long.
As is to be expected of these kinds of books, there are red herrings, false clues, twists and turns (yes, until the very end, as we all like). Also, the author cleverly starts the novel with a scene we share with a young girl down on her luck whose story is left hanging the whole novel (and readers keep wondering when the rest of the world will catch up). What a hook! Readers need not be worried, though, because all will be revealed in the end. And it is worth waiting for, although, of course, I won’t say anything else. You’ll have to read it to know.
The writing is dynamic, full of tension, intrigue, and it manages to unite a fascinating plot (as we discover the clues and pierce things together at the same time as the investigators, for the most part) with relatable, likeable (apart from one, who is fascinating nonetheless) and realistic characters.
A great book, combined with an excellent setting (in Wales, UK) that becomes a character in its own right, and one that will grab the attention of readers who appreciate intriguing stories that ask difficult questions and dig deep into the psyche of their characters. An author I’m happy to have discovered and whose work I will follow from now on.
Thanks to the author for writing this book, thanks to Rosie and her team for alerting me to her work, and thanks to you all for reading, commenting, sharing, liking, and always visiting and supporting my blog. Remember to keep smiling and to make the best of this new year. ♥
Just Olga 