Devil's Game

Ackroyd and Thackeray #15

by Patricia Hall

Karen Bastable is a woman longing for more excitement in her life, and illicit group meetings in a local forest have added plenty of spark and pleasure recently. That is until one night she meets a man in search of a more sinister kind of gratification. When her abandoned car is discovered days later, the case becomes a race against time and it is up to DCI Michael Thackeray to find her alive, that is, if he isn't too late. Meanwhile, Thackeray's girlfriend, Laura Ackroyd is struggling with the burden of keeping her unexpected pregnancy a secret from him. As she barely copes with her demanding workload as a journalist, Laura is then dealt the troublesome task of profiling Sir David Murgatroyd, a wealthy venture capitalist with plans to take over a local school. Yet while his tragic family history is widely acknowledged, he alternatively remains a mystery. So what has he to hide?

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Patricia Hall is the pen-name of journalist Maureen O'Connor. She was born and brought up in West Yorkshire, which is where she has chosen to set her acclaimed series of novels featuring reporter Laura Ackroyd and DCI Michael Thackeray. She is married, with two grown-up sons, and now lives in Oxford.

Reviews

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable read. I couldn’t be sure who the murderer was until the last quarter of the book. Great for casual reading on the beach.

[John Lee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only got a quarter way through this before ditching it. Others must like it as it is the thirteenth of the Thackery and Ackroyd series but it didnt 'grab' me and, after living in Yorkshire for over 20 years and never hearing it, " ..t'yorkshire accent" was starting to grater a bit.

[Gary Van Cott · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of the same. As I understand it this is the next to last book. I will be interested to see if the author brings the series to a close in the next one.