This Dark Place

This Dark Place – a book review and blog tour

It’s been quite some time since I’ve read a detective story so I was quite looking forward to reading the debut novel from Claire Kittridge called This Dark Place.  Published through Delicate Prey Publishing last month, this book introduces us to Detective Kelly Moore and it promised drama, suspense and murder.

This Dark Place

Set in London, a young student has been found dead but is it murder or suicide?  The victim is young American drama student Priscilla Ames, the daughter of wealthy New York financier Peter Ames.  She’s been studying and sharing a flat with Avery Moss, her friend from childhood who’s been supported by Priscilla’s father since she was a young girl.  It’s Avery who finds Priscilla’s body in their flat with a gunshot wound to the head.

Peter Ames wants answers and he calls in a favour with the hierarchy of the NYPD to ensure that Detective Kelly Moore is sent across the Atlantic to assist in the investigation in to the death of his much loved daughter.  We soon learn that Moore is no stranger to London, as she’d visited some years before trying to trace her older sister, who’d disappeared whilst travelling through England.  She’d never been found, and the pain of that loss is never far from the surface.

In This Dark Place we learn that Moore is a good detective, acting on her instincts, but sometimes she can be reckless and act as a lone rider without thinking first.  She joins the murder team dealing with the case in the London Metropolitan Police and is soon accepted when they see the skills she can bring to the investigation by all but Superintendent Janet Frame.  She’s very clear that Moore is only there as an advisor.

There are plenty of twists and turns throughout This Dark Place, especially when Avery Moss’s fingerprints are found on the murder weapon and her boyfriend is found dead.  The team soon realise that they are looking for a serial killer, and that the killer is a proficient internet user, able to cover their tracks at every turn.  Or are they.

Suspects are killed off one by one as This Dark Place unfolds and the life and loves of Priscilla Ames are revealed.

There are some good believable characters within the story and you can see that the underlying unresolved disappearance of Moore’s sister will develop as the series of Detective Kelly Moore books arrive.  I certainly enjoyed reading This Dark Place and didn’t figure out who the killer was until fairly near the end of the book.  I’ve included my Amazon Affiliate link below for your reference in case you fancy reading it for yourself.  This post is part of a blog tour and you can also see details of other reviewers at the end of this post.

This Dark Place

disclosure:  we were sent the item mentioned in exchange for an honest review

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