The vagueness surrounding this book struck me initially. The anonymity of the author, the lack of description of even their gender and the comment stating they may have been involved in a crime investigation piqued my interest. How could it not? The location of the story is also murky and while it is never stated, the description of the area left me to believe the book is set in eastern Canada - Nova Scotia is my guess.
The author wastes no time jumping into the crime and introducing Kes Morris, a well-known, big-city investigator known for her abruptness and skill at finding murderers. She's a complicated character who is surly, overly self-medicates and is regularly insubordinate but despite the book's brevity, Porter paints a clear picture of Kes, personally and professionally. Kes' skills as an investigator proceed her and she brings together a small team of local police officers to stop the murder toll in this small community.
This was an excellent read. Don't let the curious number of typos in the blurb on the back cover stop you from picking up this impressively well-paced debut. It is a concise, edgy, and compulsive read with an engaging (albeit gruesome) story and an interesting main character. I hope this is just the beginning of a new series from this talented and enigmatic author.
My Rating: 4 stars
Author: C.S. Porter
Genre: Suspense, Canadian
Type and Source: Trade Paperback from public library
Series: #1 in the Kes Morris File series
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing
First Published: October 6, 2021
Book Description from GoodReads: When a small east coast town falls prey to a series of schoking murders, city homicide detective Kes Morris is called in to lead the case with the aid of the local precinct. As usual, she's the only woman in the room, and must draw on the lessons passed down by her detective father, a furtive and dangerous practice of going deep inside a killer's mind to put on their skin.
What Kes uncovers is a web of gruesome crimes reachinf back decades, and a town that may have een complicit. With a reputation of being hard, relentless and unbending to authority, she finds herself on the hunt for a killer seeking brutal retribution, someone who takes sadistic pleasure in the death and wants their work seen. The farther she follows the trail, the more the line blurs between guilt and innocence, predator and prey.
An atmospheric thriller with complex characters, Beath Her Skin signals the emergence of a bold new voice in crime fiction and a dark and thrilling new series.
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