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Song Circle #2
Siren Song
The second stunning literary crime novel in the Song Cycle trilogy from the acclaimed author of Booker-longlisted Peacetime , and The Book of the Heathen .
In this second book in the acclaimed trilogy that began with Cradle Song , Private investigator Leo Rivers is approached by the mother of a girl who disappeared a year earlier in violent and mysterious circumstances. Investigating both the background to this disappearance, and the man held to be responsible, Rivers is drawn through a long, hot summer into a world of human-trafficking and governmental corruption at every turn, each unraveled piece of the mystery moving him further from the vanished girl and deeper into a web of exploitation, greed, temptation, revenge and violence from which even he is eventually unable to extricate himself without unforeseen and tragic consequences.
In this second book in the acclaimed trilogy that began with Cradle Song , Private investigator Leo Rivers is approached by the mother of a girl who disappeared a year earlier in violent and mysterious circumstances. Investigating both the background to this disappearance, and the man held to be responsible, Rivers is drawn through a long, hot summer into a world of human-trafficking and governmental corruption at every turn, each unraveled piece of the mystery moving him further from the vanished girl and deeper into a web of exploitation, greed, temptation, revenge and violence from which even he is eventually unable to extricate himself without unforeseen and tragic consequences.
- GenresCrime
389 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
3 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Robert Edric
37 books30 followersRobert Edric (b. 1956) is the pseudonym of Gary Edric Armitage, a British novelist born in Sheffield.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 4, 2018
The second "Song" in a trilogy of novels featuring Hull based, private investigator, Leo Rivers, by Robert Edric. The book follows "Cradle Song" in the sequence. Rivers is a thorn in the side of the police as he takes up the case of Alison Brooks. A girl who allegedly drowned. Rivers is hired by the mother of the girl who disappeared. Rivers also has an affair with his client's daughter.
The more we read, the more we discover how much everyone is unreliable. What happened to the young woman who disappeared off a luxury yacht in the Humber estuary? Who was her companion at the time? Is the alibi of the property tycoon with a motive for murdering her as water tight as it seems? These are questions Rivers must ponder. Edric/Rivers also examines the murky nexus between local government and organised crime.
The Humber estuary is really a metaphor for Rivers state of perpetual disorientation. Most investigations, Rivers believes, come to no great conclusion, they die of exhaustion and unhappy compromise.
The more we read, the more we discover how much everyone is unreliable. What happened to the young woman who disappeared off a luxury yacht in the Humber estuary? Who was her companion at the time? Is the alibi of the property tycoon with a motive for murdering her as water tight as it seems? These are questions Rivers must ponder. Edric/Rivers also examines the murky nexus between local government and organised crime.
The Humber estuary is really a metaphor for Rivers state of perpetual disorientation. Most investigations, Rivers believes, come to no great conclusion, they die of exhaustion and unhappy compromise.
June 13, 2019
A complex, satisfying tale about seeking the truth, finding peace and taking revenge. Some of these achieved more successfully than others. I really like Leo Rivers as a character and will be picking up the third volume in the Song Cycle in the not too distance future I'm sure
July 25, 2020
Realistic crime novel about a murky underworld, corruption, and complicity. Once again Leo Rivers is unable to solve the crime and with so many unanswered questions, this story is ultimately about revenge.
January 11, 2021
Was recommended this trilogy they are set in Hull (where I am from). Good from the nostalgia angle but not really my sort of book.
May 26, 2013
The Song-trilogy is one of the biggest achievements of contemporary PI crime fiction. Not in England only but on English language as well. Damn good.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews