Set in South London, Fiona Cummins' debut is insidious and icy in its depiction of a psychopath whose modus operandi could have Hannibal Lecter flinching and proves a worthy addition to the pantheon of malevolent grotesques of crime fiction. At times, it feels like Thomas Harris meets John Fowles' Collector, and this is no faint praise. Detective Sergeant Etta Fitzroy is still haunted by the disappearance of a little girl when another child goes missing, abducted outside her school gate and she manages to connect the cases. Her journey takes her into very dark places as a most sinister set-up eventually comes to light involving bone collecting and a series of fraying relationships mined by the weight of time and society. Cummins is particularly adept at portraying characters whose lives are on the verge of falling apart and generates a prevalent mood of gloom well in harmony with her creepy subject. ~ Maxim Jakubowski
A gripping and heart-pounding thriller that gives a glimpse into the mind of a psychopath even more terrifying than Hannibal Lecter. If you like Mo Hayder and Thomas Harris's Silence of the Lambs, you'll love Rattle and The Collector.
A SERIAL KILLER TO CHILL YOUR BONES. A FAMILY TO WARM YOUR HEART. A DETECTIVE WHO MUST HUNT HIM DOWN.
He has planned well. He leads two lives. In one, he's just like anyone else. But in the other he's the caretaker of his family's macabre museum.
Now the time has come to add to his collection. He is ready to feed his obsession, and he is on the hunt.
Jakey Frith and Clara Foyle have something in common. They have what he needs.
What begins is a terrifying cat and mouse game between the sinister collector, Jakey's father and DS Etta Fitzroy, a detective investigating a spate of abductions.
'It's a rare debut that has this much polish. Harrowing and horrifying, head and shoulders above most of the competition' - Val McDermid
