The Gravedigger’s Song (Tom Killgannon Series, Book 3)

The massacre in Cornwall of young Simon West’s family was brutal… and bizarre, with the murderers dressed up in puppet costumes. Having barely escaped, a traumatized Simon is placed in the care of Tom Killgannon, an ex-undercover police officer. When Tom’s house is targeted, he decides to take action, beginning with the man whom Simon’s father, a lawyer, sent to jail.

Meanwhile, local elections are on the horizon. A right-wing party composed of thugs hiding behind a veneer of intellectual respectability wants to take England back to the glorious days of a “purer” age. The nearby village of St Petroc has its own shadowy history—the so-called “upheaval” when hysteria over Brexit gripped villagers and almost led to blood sacrifices. And then an enigmatic woman, an artist, arrives in St Petroc.

A strong dose of mystery, then, but also mayhem. The barbaric behavior of the story’s villains will shock (and stretch credulity), and animal lovers will want to skip the gratuitous violence in the dog-fighting scenes. Seasoned readers will likely spot how the plot’s various strands will play out, but even so, The Gravedigger’s Song delivers a thrilling ride and an action-packed ending.