The Death Messenger

Description

Track a stalker. Catch a killer. When a mysterious DVD is delivered to Northumbria Police Headquarters, DS Matthew Ryan and Detective Superintendent Eloise O'Neil are among the few to view its disturbing content. With little to go on the only lead comes from the anonymous and chilling woman's voice narrating the blood-soaked lock-up depicted on screen. But with no victim visible, nor any indication of where the unidentifiable crime scene is located, Ryan and O'Neil get the distinct feeling someone is playing with them. What is certain is that the newly formed special unit has just taken on its first challenging case. As further shocking videos start arriving at police stations around the country, the body count rises. But what connects all the victims? And why are they being targeted? As the investigation deepens, the team is brought to breaking point as secrets from the past threaten to derail their pursuit of a merciless killer . . . The Death Messenger is a tense police procedural follows The Silent Room in the thrilling Matthew Ryan series by Mari Hannah.

Mari Hannah is an award-winning author whose authentic voice is no happy accident. A former probation officer, she has contributed to CID training for Northumbria Police and lives in rural Northumberland with her partner, an ex-murder detective. Mari turned to scriptwriting when her career was cut short following an assault on duty. Her debut, The Murder Wall (adapted from a script she developed with the BBC) won her the Polari First Book Prize. Its follow-up, Settled Blood, picked up a Northern Writers' Award. She went on to be shortlisted for the Dagger in the Library and is currently Reader in Residence for Harrogate International Crime Writing Festival.

Nobody understands the many faces of cops better than Mari Hannah -- Val McDermid Mari Hannah's already assured command of the crime fiction idiom has even managed to grow incrementally, as The Death Messenger proves: it's a reminder how appropriate her recent CWA Dagger win was -- Barry Forshaw, Crime Time