I’d read and enjoyed ‘The Tattoo Thief’ by Alison Belsham so I came to this book with high expectations. I didn’t realise that this book was a sequel or that I’d actually missed the second book in the series- but all was fine. It helped that I had a vague sense of the relationships between the main characters, but I don’t think it was essential.
This book focuses on a killer called ‘The Embalmer’ who manages to add a newly-made mummy to the Brighton Museum of Natural History. The police, led by Detective Francis Sullivan, are baffled as to how to identify the body inside the mummy. However, before they can progress the investigation, canopic jars begin turning up – containing body parts taken freshly from a series of new murder victims. Francis Sullivan is keen to unmask the serial killer – but issues in his own private life prove to be a distraction.
I absolutely loved the Egyptian-inspired strand of the story – a modern day mummy-maker, canopic jars and ancient Egyptian beliefs are an intriguing basis for a modern murder mystery. It is quite gruesome, but after ‘The Tattoo Thief’ (with people being skinned for their tattoos), I felt prepared! As the hunt for the killer brought peril closer to Francis Sullivan, I couldn’t stop reading!
The second strand of the story was about Francis Sullivan’s kind of on-off relationship with the chaotic Marnie Mullins (who I remembered from ‘The Tattoo Thief’) – a relationship that takes a bit of a dramatic turn early on in the novel. While I did find this narrative quite interesting, I much preferred the Egyptian-themed plot. I was struggling to remember why Francis was so invested in Marnie in the first place as I didn’t feel as much engagement with her as I think I did in the first book.
Overall, this is a well-plotted and tense police procedural. I’d recommend it to lovers of crime fiction who are in possession of a strong stomach and nerves of steel – there’s a lot going on in Brighton and most of it is pretty grim!
Thanks to NetGalley for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review (and sorry about how long it has taken…)
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Header photo by Narciso Arellano on Unsplash
Great review, Kate! I would also love the Egyptian themed plot as I’m pretty obsessed with ancient Egypt. It sounds like quite the exciting and thrilling read. Thanks for sharing!