A Promise to the Dead (King & Lane #4) by Victoria Jenkins
Genre: Crime Fiction
Read: 26th January 2019
Purchase: Amazon
★★★★ 4 stars
A PROMISE TO THE DEAD is the fourth in the Detectives King and Lane series, and from what Victoria Jenkins said in her note at the end, it is the last (for now). She indicated that she may revisit the duo in the future. Hopefully the not too distant future because I love this series!
I have read the first book in this series - which I absolutely LOVED - and now the fourth, skipping the second and third which I WILL go back and read. When I read the first book I absolutely LOVED it and I loved how King and Lane interact and work well together. It was about time there was a series featuring a duo that worked well together, didn't bicker every five minutes and were not ball-breaking bitches which some leads are. I loved these two and I am sad to see their story come to an end...for now.
The story opens with a prologue set in 1981 with a nameless couple that make sense by the end of the book. It sets the scene and had me turning the pages to discover how this incident was linked to the present.
In the present day, Matthew and Stacey are returning home from a football match and gathering with friends. They spend much of the time arguing and loathe to heed his girlfriend's advice, Matthew takes the quiet mountain road to avoid the busy traffic, when their car runs out of fuel. I myself cannot see this happening. I mean who doesn't check their fuel gauge? I'm always checking mine, filling up when it reached half a tank! However, as the story goes, they run out of fuel. Matthew goes to find help leaving Stacey alone in the car. But something happens. Matthew sees something he shouldn't have. By the next morning Stacey is dead and Matthew is nowhere to be found.
DI King and DC Lane find themselves investigating and are soon overwhelmed by numerous other cases landing on their desks all at once.
It then becomes clear there are links to another local man, Keiran Robinson, who went missing just a few days prior. But interviewing his family is proving difficult as they stonewall the detectives with unhelpful remarks and jabs at their inadequate investigation. It also become clear they are hiding something. But what is it? And how does it relate to Keiran's disappearance? Or that of Matthew's or Stacey's murder?
Not long after, DI King gets the call that a body has been found in a backyard. Who could it be? Is it Matthew? Or is it Keiran? However once on the scene it becomes clear that the body is actually skeletal remains of someone who has been in the ground, under a patio, a lot longer than the other two men have been missing. So who is this latest body?
Then the killer reaches out to DI King, sending her first a finger and then an incriminating photo of one of the missing men and one of her team. Is someone on her team responsible for these killings?
A PROMISE TO THE DEAD is a thrilling, compelling and fast-paced read that promises and delivers a thrill-ride of exciting twists and turns throughout the story. The pace is brisk and the ending unexpected.
I love how the two lead detectives are female and firm fast friends. I love how they interact together and with other members of the team, as well as other characters.
I was a little puzzled as to the constant reference to DI King's scars, as having only read the first book and this one, I've no idea what has taken place beforehand to lead to such an injury to which they keep referring. I wish there was a slight reference to what actually caused the burns on her face as not everyone may remember what has taken place in previous books and some, like me, may read out of order or even stand alone. So just a small reminder would have sufficed for those who can't remember or have no idea.
Aside from that small flaw, I thoroughly enjoyed A PROMISE TO THE DEAD and I hope Victoria Jenkins revisits this pair of detectives again in the near future because they are by far the best duo I've come across.
Many thanks to #VictoriaJenkins, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #APromiseToTheDead in exchange for an honest review.
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