The Songbird Girls by Richard Parker
Her eyes were closed. From a distance the blood around her neck might have looked like a necklace, but up close her body told a different tale. She had been murdered. A tiny songbird lay beside her, its neck broken…
Detective Tom Fabian's past is catching up with him. It has been years since the most high-profile case of his career – when his evidence put infamous serial killer Christopher Wisher behind bars forever. But when Wisher summons a reluctant Fabian to his prison cell to hand over a diary, he realises that Wisher’s twisted games are far from over.
Shortly after Fabian’s visit, Wisher is found dead in his cell. And a few days later, the police find a woman’s body bearing Wisher’s signature, a dead songbird. But the police never released this detail to the public… so who has Wisher been talking to?
Fabian is desperate to find the killer before another innocent life is taken. But as more bodies turn up, Fabian begins to realise that Wisher may have handed him the clues before he died. Is the twisted serial killer still pulling the strings from beyond the grave…?
If you can’t get enough of crime thrillers by Adam Croft or Melinda Leigh, you will love The Songbird Girls.
My review
I think I may be the only one to have come into this amazing series at book 2. But I must say I never once felt left on the back foot I just had a sense that something epic had happened previously but it didn't hinder my reading experience in the slightest. This is down to Richard Parker, who's ease of writing put me comfortably in the picture from the start.
What a book though, I picked it up yesterday afternoon and didn't put it down once. The short and snappy chapters had me sailing through in a desperate attempt to get to the concluding pages in the hope of finding answers. I loved the carefully crafted chess game, that the plot took on. It's elaborate style was a mechanism to keep any reader riveted and I for one was hooked. The story pulled me in with its game like quality and I loved every minute of it. I won't go into any details regarding plot structure as I would hate to let any hints or spoilers slip out but it certainly is a book not to be missed.
The characters were all crafted with great precision with only enough characteristic details given away to aid the storyline. Fabian was captivating from the start and kept my attention throughout, I loved seeing the cogs of his mind in motion as he made his way across the chessboard of the game. There were many more standout characters but I shall let you meet them for yourself in the way the author intended.
The Songbird Girls is without a doubt a must read book, I honestly couldn't put it down and urge you all to grab your nearest copy and dive straight in. I'm off now to read book one in order to prolong my time in Fabian's company.
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Author Bio:
Richard Parker was formerly a TV script writer, script editor and producer before turning his hand to penning twisted stand-alone thrillers.
