Book 16: "One Last Breath" by Stephen Booth
Saturday, April 30th, 2011 09:42![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kittiwake'It will use a lot of resources manning the phones and checking on sightings,' said Hitchens. 'But we need the help of the public. We've got to catch this man before he strikes again.'
'Strikes again?' said Jepson. 'Are you writing headlines for the newspapers these days, Hitchens? Have you taken a sub-editor's course at the Derbyshire Times? Are you going to start talking in words of one syllable?'
'Sorry, chief. I meant, we're gathering community-based intelligence in our efforts to establish the location of the principal suspect prior to a recurrence of his offending behaviour.'
A murderer is released from prison. The terms of his release don't allow him to return home to the Hope Valley, but he doesn't turn up at the hostel in Burton on Trent, and then his ex-wife is murdered. This is the start of a convoluted tale of murder and retribution, whose twists and turns lead up to an ambiguous ending.
When I was a child, British Rail used to run Ramblers' Specials from Nottingham to the Hope Valley on bank holidays, so I have walked between Hope, Hathersage and the other stations on the Hope Valley Line, and one bank holiday we walked up to Castleton, climbed the hill up to Peveril Castle and queued for the boat trip through Speedwell Cavern. I think I have been into one of the other caves too, but I don't remember seeing the ropemaker's houses, so I don't think it can have been Peak Cavern.
I liked the fact that I could visualise the scenery and Quinn's movements, and I found the parts set in the caves spooky and claustrophobic. So it was quite enjoyable overall.
Reviews of Books 15 & 16 cross-posted to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
50bookchallenge.
'Strikes again?' said Jepson. 'Are you writing headlines for the newspapers these days, Hitchens? Have you taken a sub-editor's course at the Derbyshire Times? Are you going to start talking in words of one syllable?'
'Sorry, chief. I meant, we're gathering community-based intelligence in our efforts to establish the location of the principal suspect prior to a recurrence of his offending behaviour.'
A murderer is released from prison. The terms of his release don't allow him to return home to the Hope Valley, but he doesn't turn up at the hostel in Burton on Trent, and then his ex-wife is murdered. This is the start of a convoluted tale of murder and retribution, whose twists and turns lead up to an ambiguous ending.
When I was a child, British Rail used to run Ramblers' Specials from Nottingham to the Hope Valley on bank holidays, so I have walked between Hope, Hathersage and the other stations on the Hope Valley Line, and one bank holiday we walked up to Castleton, climbed the hill up to Peveril Castle and queued for the boat trip through Speedwell Cavern. I think I have been into one of the other caves too, but I don't remember seeing the ropemaker's houses, so I don't think it can have been Peak Cavern.
I liked the fact that I could visualise the scenery and Quinn's movements, and I found the parts set in the caves spooky and claustrophobic. So it was quite enjoyable overall.
Reviews of Books 15 & 16 cross-posted to
50bookchallenge.
