May Queen Killers by Lorna Dounaeva
With May Day celebrations and small village life, you might think that this was going to be a Midsummer Murders-esque cozy mystery, but a cozy mystery this is not. The village in question is on the Welsh borders, and May Queen Killers is dark and psychological, reminisicent of BBC4’s Hinterland.
Crime writer, Jock, is our hero, not that he is without suspicion as the police try to find the killer of Saphire Butterworth, this year’s May Queen. It’s been five years since the last killing and the killer has since died in police custardy, but could they have got the wrong man? Or is this a copycat killing…?
This is a tight, fast-faced thiller, that moves between official police investigations, to the friend’s desperate hunt, to a disturbing narrative that actually places you in the head of a serial killer.
