Simon Beckett

Do you have a taste for vivid, uncompromising crime writing? Do you like your crime fiction meat strong and flavoursome? If so, Simon Becket should be on your reading list. Chemistry of Death and Written in Bone laid out his stall

Finding refuge in a quiet rural backwater, Dr David Hunter hoped he might at last have put the past behind him. But then they found what was left of Sally Palmer… It isn’t just that she was a friend that disturbs him. Once he’d been a high-profile forensic anthropologist and all too familiar with the many faces of death, before tragedy made him abandon this previous life. Now the police want his help. But to become involved will stir up memories he’s long tried to forget. Then a second woman disappears, plunging the close-knit community into a maelstrom of fear and paranoia. And no one, not even Hunter, is exempt from suspicion.

Za odľahlou dedinou Manham v Norfolku sa nájde znetvorená mŕtvola Sally Palmerovej. Doktora Huntera sa udalosť dotkne nielen preto, že mladú ženu osobne poznal - bývalý londýnsky súdny antropológ sa už tri roky snaží zabudnúť na tragickú smrť svojich blízkych práve na vidieku. A tak vo chvíli, keď ho polícia požiada, aby jej pomohol vypátrať vraha, najprv odmietne, aby v sebe neoživil spomienky na bolestnú minulosť. V Manhame sa nájdu aj ďalšie znetvorené telá ľudí i zvierat. Dovtedy pokojnú dedinu ovládne nevraživosť, strach a panika. Tieň podozrenia padne aj na Davida Huntera. On jediný má však znalosti, aby brutálneho vraha zastavil...

'At first glance it could have been anything - a stone, a knotted root - until you looked more closely. Thrusting out of the wet earth, its bones visible through rags of flesh, was a decomposing hand...'. It was eight years ago that they found the body buried on the moor. They were certain that this was one of psychotic rapist and multiple murderer Jerome Monk's teenage victims. Which left just two more bodies to find. But the ill-conceived search ended badly. And with Monk safely behind bars, the momentum faltered. For forensics expert David Hunter, and those others who were part of the recovery team, life moved on. And the dead were left undisturbed. Now, though, a nightmare scenario unfurls. Monk has escaped and seems to be targeting anyone involved in that original ill-fated operation. Lured back to the moors by a desperate call for help, Hunter begins to realise that neither the events unfolding now - nor those of eight years ago - are quite what they seem. And as the maniac's violent trail edges ever closer, the past is suddenly anything but dead and buried...

Na odlehlém hebridském ostrově Runa čeká na forenzního antropologa doktora Davida Huntera (známého z titulu Chemie smrti, Knižní klub, 2010) hrůzný objev: z mrtvoly, která byla téměř celá spálena, zbyly pouze nohy a jedna ruka. Instinkty i profesionální zkušenost doktoru Hunterovi napovídají, že nejde o nešťastnou náhodu. Navíc Runa zdaleka není onou poklidnou komunitou, jakou se jeví na první pohled – a spálené tělo je pouze jedním z jejích temných tajemství. V následné větrné bouři, která přeruší dodávku proudu a odřízne ostrov od kontaktů s pevninou, naplno propukne vrahovo běsnění…

'A superbly strong read' The Times What began as a straightforward case is about to become a twisted nightmare . . . Once a busy hospital, St Jude's now stands derelict, awaiting demolition. When a partially mummified corpse is found in the building's cavernous loft, forensics expert Dr David Hunter is called in to take a look. He can't say how long the body's been there, but he is certain it's that of a young woman. And that she was pregnant. Then part of the attic floor collapses, revealing another of the hospital's secrets: a bricked-up chamber with beds inside. And some of them are still occupied. And it soon becomes clear that St Jude's hasn't claimed its last victim . . . Chilling, visceral and masterfully paced, Simon Beckett's new crime thriller will leave you gasping.

V Norfolku nedaleko zapadlé vesničky Manham je nalezeno znetvořené ženské tělo. Doktora Davida Huntera, který se v těchto odlehlých končinách snaží zapomenout na tragickou smrt svých blízkých, se tento nález dotkne i proto, že oběť – Sally Palmerovou – znal osobně. Když ho osloví místní policie s prosbou o pomoc při pátrání po vrahovi, nejprve odmítne. Poté co se začnou objevovat v okolí další znetvořená těla, lidská i zvířecí, zasáhne vesnici vlna paniky a nikdo už nevěří nikomu. Podezření padne i na Huntera, jedině on však má sdostatek znalostí na to, aby brutálního vraha odhalil a zastavil. Napínavý debut, který dovedně kombinuje metody forenzního vyšetřování ve stylu Patricie Cornwellové a žánr psychothrilleru. Autor už vydal dvě pokračování.

Do you have a taste for vivid, uncompromising crime writing? Do you like your crime fiction meat strong and flavoursome? If so, Simon Becket should be on your reading list. Chemistry of Death and Written in Bone laid out his stall

Do you have a taste for vivid, uncompromising crime writing? Do you like your crime fiction meat strong and flavoursome? If so, Simon Becket should be on your reading list. Chemistry of Death and Written in Bone laid out his stall

Finding refuge in a quiet rural backwater, Dr David Hunter hoped he might at last have put the past behind him. But then they found what was left of Sally Palmer… It isn’t just that she was a friend that disturbs him. Once he’d been a high-profile forensic anthropologist and all too familiar with the many faces of death, before tragedy made him abandon this previous life. Now the police want his help. But to become involved will stir up memories he’s long tried to forget. Then a second woman disappears, plunging the close-knit community into a maelstrom of fear and paranoia. And no one, not even Hunter, is exempt from suspicion.

Na odlehlém hebridském ostrově Runa čeká na forenzního antropologa doktora Davida Huntera (známého z titulu Chemie smrti, Knižní klub, 2010) hrůzný objev: z mrtvoly, která byla téměř celá spálena, zbyly pouze nohy a jedna ruka. Instinkty i profesionální zkušenost doktoru Hunterovi napovídají, že nejde o nešťastnou náhodu. Navíc Runa zdaleka není onou poklidnou komunitou, jakou se jeví na první pohled – a spálené tělo je pouze jedním z jejích temných tajemství. V následné větrné bouři, která přeruší dodávku proudu a odřízne ostrov od kontaktů s pevninou, naplno propukne vrahovo běsnění…