Poignant and chilly story based on the tragic event at Deepcut Army Barracks. Bonner interviewed the victims’ families, adding authenticity to the dramatic events. She also brings back the reporter John Kelly and Detective Karen Meadows of A Moment of Madness and When the Dead Cry Out, to add further tension to the plot. The end result is a very fine, sophisticated novel.
John Kelly, once a reporter, always a maverick, has become embroiled in the mystery surrounding a series of disturbing deaths at a tough army training base in the heart of Dartmoor. Several young men and women have died suddenly and tragically, mostly from gunshot wounds that the army claims to have been self-inflicted. There is a plausible explanation for each death individually, but when put together these explanations look very suspicious indeed -Kelly takes his concerns to his old friend Detective Superintendent Karen Meadows and together they attempt to break through the wall of secrecy the army has erected. Their involvement in what they come to believe is a major conspiracy, coupled with upheaval and tragedy in their own personal lives, brings them closer than ever before. But when powerful men in high places try to silence the ex-journalist in a shocking and unexpected manner, this threatens to be the investigation which could finally finish John Kelly -
Hilary Bonner is the former showbusiness editor of the Mail on Sunday and the Daily Mirror. She now lives in Somerset where she continues to work as a freelance journalist covering film, television and theatre. Hilary was the Chair of the Crime Writers' Association in 2003.
