Haunted Mind by Jason R Vowles

 

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321 pages

You can buy Haunted Mind...Here

You can see a review for Crimson Snow....Here

You can follow Jason R Vowles...Here

• The Blurb...

WHAT HAUNTS THE MINDS OF THOSE WHO KILL FOR LOVE?
A GRUESOME MURDER
The remains of Jennifer Ruben-Claire – the daughter of a wealthy London family – is found drenched in acid outside her flat in the leafy streets of Hampstead Heath. Beloved by many, the motive for her murder seems unclear.
A KILLER ON TRIAL
As DC Hudson supports Leigh and the team with the Ruben-Claire case, the trial of the century for another killer looms. Concerned that the person he once loved may go free, the troubled detective is forced to get creative.
A HAUNTED MIND

With the pressure mounting to solve a new murder, and his nightmares returning with a vengeance, can Hudson help put away two killers, or will his own demons finally consume him?

• My Review...

Following on from the first DC Daniel Hudson adventure, "Crimson Snow" Jason R Vowles has done it again. He takes on another gripping and stressful escapade that will leave you exhausted but wanting to read just one more page, just one more chapter.

Daniel is down, awaiting the trial of his serial killer ex girlfriend . His colleagues don't rate him, and are not afraid to let him know it. How bad must a DC be if his girlfriend is a serial killer and he had no clue? He is having therapy for the nightmares. He is banging heads with his bi-polar sister and his landlady, when he is seconded on to another murder investigation. Oh and on top of everything his mum and grandad are coming to town...for a month. No wonder the poor bloke is going out of his swede!

Mr Vowles does love a gruesome and horrific murder. Post mortem lobotomies in Crimson Snow and now face melting acid, cant wait to see what he comes up with in book 3! 😱

The victim is a posh socialite from an equally posh family and with a posh group of friends. Some of whom are hiding things other than murder. The intensity of the acute current murder plays well against the background of the chronic dread of the trial of the girlfriend/serial killer. The ending leads nicely into what will be book 3.

I feel that the USP of this series is that it is modern and up to date in a societal/political sense. This can be further broken down into two main aspects. Firstly, it is of its time in a cosmopolitan, metropolitan environment. The murder investigation team really is a melting pot of ethnicity. I think I came across at least a Nigerian, a Ghanaian, a Scot and a Japanese. Being from semi rural West Wales where there is nowhere near the diversity of London, I find these sections intriguing to read. People from all backgrounds working in well... not harmony but working with purpose.

Secondly the character of DC Hudson is unusual in that he is not your typical hard man protagonist of a police procedural, he is no Rebus or Jimmy Perez forthright and sure of himself. Hudson like a lot of people today is a ball of anxiety and depression, always overthinking. Prone to emotional outbursts and mentally hanging by a thread. Very relatable in this day and age. All very modern and very PC and all the more interesting because of it.

As always we come for the plot but stay for the characters... Looking forward to book 3

• Selected Quotes...

"Danny. I’m about as true a person as they come.’‘I don’t believe that. I don’t think you know what truth is.’‘We’re all compelled by our own truths, Danny. Why should mine matter less?’

‘Partly because my truth is universally accepted and backed by law and human empathy, and yours is twisted, psychotic and tends to lead to dead bodies.’

"...they see a Black kid in a hoody and assume he’s carrying a gun, two knives and a kilo of cocaine. When really, he’s just nipping down to a Londis to pick up some fucking Haribo.’

"this seemed eerily like fate. A concept I didn’t hold much weight in. Fate assumed a master pulling strings. Which, naturally, I rejected. I was the architect of my work.

I knew who I was and never shied away; I never feared my own thoughts."

"Truthfully, I had only overheard a few people who actually welcomed their sentence. Their punishment. They carried a more nonchalant air about them. Or perhaps I was misreading apathy and depression for intelligent resignation to their predicaments. Yes. Probably the latter."

• If You Liked This, You May Like...

August Lost by R.G. Vaughn (You can read the review... Here)

Killing Evil by John Nichol (You can read the review...Here)

The List by Graham H Miller

Sleepyhead by Mark Billingham

Dead Simple by Peter James

• About the author...

Jason R Vowles was born and raised, well, almost everywhere in England. Born in Lincolnshire, he moved to Norfolk as a kid, then to Northamptonshire and Bristol for studies. Finally moving to Wales, he settled in Cardiff where his writing career finally took off.

A voracious reader of multiple genres, Jason plans on releasing more than just a few crime novels. A fan of all good things such as animals, food, and booze, he finds plenty to keep himself occupied and fuelled whilst writing his next book.