Title: The Innocent DeadAuthor: Lin Anderson
Series: Rhona MacLeod #15
Published by: Pan Macmillan on Sep. 22, 2020
Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural
Pages: 400
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publishers Group Canada
Book Rating: 9/10
A gripping new crime novel by Lin Anderson featuring forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod, who is tasked with solving the case of a young girl who went missing forty-five years ago.
Mary McIntyre’s disappearance tore the local community apart, inflicting wounds that still prove raw for those who knew her. So when the present-day discovery of a child’s remains are found in a peat bog south of Glasgow, it seems the decades-old mystery may finally be solved.
Called in to excavate the body, forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod uses the advances made in forensic science since Mary’s vanishing to determine what really happened all those years ago – and who was responsible.
One key person had been Karen Marshall who was devastated by her best friend’s abduction. Questioned by the police at the time had led to a dead end and the case soon went cold.
Now the news of the discovered body brings the nightmares back. But added to that, memories long-buried by Karen are returning, memories that begin to reveal her role in her friend’s disappearance and perhaps even the identity of the killer…
The Innocent Dead is the fifteenth novel in Lin Anderson’s Rhona MacLeod crime series.
Review:
Shrewd, gripping, and meticulous!
In this latest novel by Anderson, The Innocent Dead, we head back to Glasgow where forensic scientist Dr Rhona MacLeod and her team at Police Scotland find themselves investigating and unravelling the 1975 cold case of a missing eleven-year-old girl after a child’s body is accidentally discovered in a nearby peat bog.
The prose is seamless and crisp. The characterization is stellar with all the usual gang back including the meticulous, intuitive Dr Rhona MacLeod who’s still grappling with the psychological and emotional toll left by the sin-eater case. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unwind seamlessly into an engrossing tale full of abuse, deception, secrets, familial drama, red herrings, manipulation, violence, and murder.
Overall, The Innocent Dead is a gripping, atmospheric, highly entertaining tale by Anderson that is another fine example of her exceptional ability to write police procedurals that have catchy storylines and fully-developed characters.
This book is available now.
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Thank you to PGC Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
About Lin Anderson
Lin Anderson is a Scottish author and screenwriter known for her bestselling crime series featuring forensic scientist Dr Rhona MacLeod. Four of her novels have been longlisted for the Scottish Crime Book of the Year, with Follow the Dead being a 2018 finalist. Her short film River Child won both a Scottish BAFTA for Best Fiction and the Celtic Film Festival’s Best Drama award and has now been viewed more than one million times on YouTube. Lin is also the co-founder of the international crime writing festival Bloody Scotland, which takes place annually in Stirling.
