‘Every time you think you have the plot sorted, it slips through your fingers like water’
THEY SAY
When Detective Constable Connie Childs is dragged from her bed to the fire-wrecked property on Cross Farm Lane she knows as she steps from the car that this house contains death.
Three bodies discovered - a family obliterated - their deaths all seem to point to one conclusion: One mother, one murderer.
But D.C. Childs, determined as ever to discover the truth behind the tragedy, realises it is the fourth body - the one they cannot find - that holds the key to the mystery at Cross Farm Lane.
What Connie Childs fails to spot is that her determination to unmask the real murderer might cost her more than her health - this time she could lose the thing she cares about most: her career.
I SAY
I have to start this review on a personal note, by saying that when my uncle died last week I couldn’t settle on anything. Desperate to lose myself in something, I kept picking up books and putting them down after a few sentences. Then I tried A Patient Fury, by Sarah Ward – and devoured it. Inside its pages I forgot for a little while about grief and loss, and was instead sucked into the world of DC Connie Childs. That alone says a great deal about the author’s skill.
Family loyalties weave an intricate plot in this novel. Sarah Ward plays her hand subtly, never going over the top with her descriptions, and sensitively handling some tough subjects. The characters are fascinating, rounded and believable, and every time you think you have the plot sorted, it slips through your fingers like water.
This is the third in the DC Childs series, and each book is a step up from the previous one. It’s a great read that will keep you turning pages through the night.