Book Review: The Dead Sit Round in a Ring

Reviewed By: Woodstock - RAM

The Dead Sit Round in a Ring     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon UK PB Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
David Lawrence
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Woman Main Character   Noir   Police Procedural
Series: Detective Sergeant Stella Mooney # 1

Lawrence introduces us to London cop Stella Mooney, who is called to a strange scene in a small apartment. Seated in four chairs, facing inward toward the center of the circle, are the dead bodies of two men and two women. There are no signs of struggle or violence, and the cops are mystified. Things are no more clear when autopsies reveal that three of the dead took their own lives with overdoses of medication, but the fourth man had been stabbed in the heart with a small ice pick type of weapon.

Mooney's investigation leads her into a dark dark London world, where prostitutes from various East European countries work in a type of modern day slavery. Eventually Mooney begins to focus her investigation on London crime bosses who run the prostitution rings, and on the uneasy relationship with the European criminals who persuade the young women to come to the UK seeking a new life and economic stability. She correctly senses that the inevitable showdown between the two groups of men is the answer to the strange murder identified in the small apartment.

Mooney carries demons of her own, and wakes nightly at 3 am, beseiged by a recurring nightmare. Her long standing relationship with her live in lover is threatened by the subtle attraction she feels for an investigating journalist who becomes an important part of the ongoing effort to find the murderer.

The book jacket reveals that Lawrence will soon release a new book featuring Mooney. I can hardly wait!

Woodstock - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Woodstock - RAM