The Search by Howard Linskey

The Blurb

A serial killer with one last secret: a gripping psychological thriller, perfect for readers of Sweet Little Lies.

Susan Verity was only ten when she went missing. For years the police tried everything in order to find her, with no luck. Until now.

Convicted serial killer Adrian Wicklow has always been the prime suspect. At last, terminally ill after decades behind bars, Adrian finally says he'll tell the truth.

For Detective Ian Bradshaw, this could be the breakthrough they so desperately need. But Bradshaw is suspicious:

Would a murderer on death's door give up his last secret so easily?

About Howard Linskey

‘The Search' is the third book in a crime fiction series written by Howard Linskey for Penguin Random House, featuring journalists Tom Carney & Helen Norton with police detective Ian Bradshaw. The other titles in this series are 'No Name Lane' and ‘Behind Dead Eyes’. He is also the author of ‘Hunting the Hangman’ a historical thriller about the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in Prague during WW2. His David Blake books have been optioned for TV by Harry Potter producer, David Barron. They are published in the UK by No Exit Press, in Germany by Droemer Knaur and in the US by Harper Collins. The Times newspaper voted 'The Drop' one of its Top Five Thrillers of the Year and 'The Damage' one of its Top Summer Reads. Both books broke into the top five Amazon Kindle chart. Originally from Ferryhill in County Durham, he now lives in Herts with his wife Alison and daughter Erin Howard's web site is www.howardlinskey.co.uk

My Review

Child serial killer Adrian Wicklow withdraws his confession that he killed victim Susan Verity in 1976 after serving 14 years in prison. He does however admit to killing other children but bodies have never been recovered because he will not disclose where they are. Detective Ian Bradshaw is tasked with reopening the case as a cold case to investigate who was the killer of Susan Verity, not discounting that it could still be Adrian Wicklow, and meeting with Wicklow to try and get him to disclose where the bodies can be found for the sake of the grieving families. Sounds very similar to the Ian Brady story. Set in two time zones twenty years apart, Howard Linskey, skilfully placed me, the reader, back in the the heat wave of 1976, which I remember well, and 1996. I also had a great sense of being in the North-East in places like Seahouses and Bamburgh, Wetherbey and Newcastle, to name but a few, so the whole book had a lot of appeal to me. Plausible characters with Bradshaw hiring a couple of investigative reporters that have worked with him before, and plenty of back story. There was not a dull moment on any page of this book, and I will certainly be making up of lost time in reading some of Mr Linskey's other work, that I have overlooked over the past few years. The Search represents everything that I like about the crime genre.