What would you do if someone used your deepest secrets to commit the darkest crimes?
When the cold, lifeless body of a policeman is pulled from the Thames in the early hours of the morning, it appears at first glance to be a terrible accident.
But when old diary pages predicting the exact details of the crime start appearing online, ex-criminal psychologist and owner of the diary, Nathan Radley, becomes the number one suspect in the most terrifying murder investigation the London police has ever seen.
Nathan’s partner, Detective Katie Rhodes knows that he is innocent, because she was with him the night of the attack. But as more extracts are posted, and more bodies begin to surface, how much longer can she ignore the connection?
The trail leads Katie from one dead end to another, until a tiny clue buried deep within the pages leads them to a new suspect; someone dangerous, someone close, someone they trusted…
I'm absolutely delighted to be taking part in the blog blitz for The Goodnight Song by Nick Hollin today. Many thanks to the author and Noelle from Bookouture for inviting me and for my advance copy of the novel which I received through Netgalley.
I loved Nick Hollin's first Detective Rhodes and Radley book, Dark Lies when I read it earlier this year and have been impatiently awaiting this sequel ever since. Taking place a few months after the climactic finale in the first book, I would strongly recommend reading the series in order to fully appreciate the development of the plot and characters.
After the inquest into Katie and Nathan's previous case makes the pair public property, they decide to lie low for a while in Wales. Both are bearing the mental and physical scars of their encounter with the killer nicknamed The Cartoonist by the media and question whether they can ever move past what happened. Their self-imposed exile is brought to a brutal end however, when a close colleague is killed. The police officer's murder bears an uncomfortable similarity to a previous case - one that drove Radley into tortured isolation scared of what he might be capable of. He finds himself under suspicion particularly when pages from his old journal are shared on a true crime blog. Nathan is in trouble; the journal was supposed to be his way of indulging in his disturbing fantasies without actually killing anybody but when his gruesome imagination is mirrored by real life murders, people begin to wonder if he has succumbed to his dark side. He needs to clear his name but he is still tormented by their last case and begins to question just who he can trust.
The pair need to work out who is playing what seems to be a murderous game of revenge but when neither is quite sure of who they can trust, it seems as if the killer is always one step ahead of them. I loved the twists and turns of The Goodnight Song with each victim seeming to suggest another suspect with a different motive until eventually I trusted nobody! Nathan is less able to use his unique insights in The Goodnight Song and it's Katie who drives the investigation, torn by her fear for what she might discover and the frisson of excitement she feels when on a case. Both Rhodes and Radley are damaged by what they have seen and experienced but they aren't the only ones as criminal activities are shown to have long-reaching effects on the victims and perpetrators. The role of the media, whether traditional or social, has an important part to play too. Press intrusion caused Katie and Nathan to flee London in the first place and knowing that they are both considered newsworthy has definite psychological effects on the pair. Meanwhile, the public's appetite for crime is also fed through true crime blogs, particularly those that suggest police corruption. When one such blogger claims to have been sent the missing pages of Nathan's journal, it doesn't take long for them to realise just how hard it is to find somebody who has hidden their identity online.
Nick Hollin creates such complex, authentic characters and then he places them in a deliciously intricate and suspenseful plot. Though there is a sense of foreboding throughout, the darkness is allowed to intensify gradually until the tension becomes almost unbearable. The Goodnight Song is intelligent, exciting and original with an absolutely breathtaking conclusion. The Detective Rhodes and Radley series is now confirmed as an absolute must-read for me and I look forward to the next book with eager anticipation.
The Goodnight Song is published by Bookouture and can be purchased here.
Don't forget to check out the other blogs taking part in the blog blitz, details are below.
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