Simon Beckett Libri

All'interno del bungalow, la vittima giace nuda, supina su un tavolo, legata mani e piedi, con evidenti ferite d'arma da taglio, inferte quando, forse, era ancora in vita. La temperatura all'interno dell'edificio supera i 43 gradi. Una sedia davanti al corpo fa pensare che l'assassino abbia assistito allo spettacolo degli ultimi attimi di vita della vittima. Ma un particolare risulta incoerente: l'avanzato stato di decomposizione del corpo induce a pensare che il decesso sia avvenuto da almeno 6 giorni. Eppure il bungalow risulta affittato solo da 4 giorni. Le uniche impronte sulla scena, inoltre, risalgono a un certo Dexter, morto sei mesi prima. Almeno così registra l'anagrafe. È chiaro che l'assassino non solo è molto astuto e non lascia tracce; non solo è molto cattivo; è anche, scientificamente, molto preparato. Dopo La chimica della morte e Scritto nelle ossa , continua la saga di David Hunter. Stavolta lo scenario è la Body Farm di Knoxville, nel Tennessee, l'unico laboratorio al mondo dove si utilizzano autentici cadaveri umani per studiarne il processo di decomposizione all'aperto. E stavolta Hunter conduce l'indagine con il suo maestro, Tom Lieberman. Insieme affrontano una nuova, sconcertante avventura nel regno del male e della scienza.

Quando il corpo bizzarramente mutilato di una giovane donna viene ritrovato nelle paludi che circondano il villaggio di Manham, sperduto nel Norfolk, il dottor David Hunter non piange solo la perdita di un'amica, ma è costretto a fare i conti con il proprio doloroso passato. Un tempo autorevole antropologo forense, David si è seppellito nella sonnolenta Manham per lasciarsi alle spalle la tragedia famigliare che gli ha reso impossibile guardare con distacco clinico la macabra specialità cui doveva la propria fama: l'interpretazione dell'alchimia rovesciata della morte - che trasforma l'oro della vita nelle vili materie prime da cui è costituita - per risalire alle cause del decesso e all'assassino. Costretto con un velato ricatto morale a dare il proprio contributo alle indagini, il dottor Hunter viene trascinato in un intricato labirinto di sospetti dalla diffidenza e dal panico che cominciano a serpeggiare in paese dopo la seconda, misteriosa, sparizione, scatenando una caccia alle streghe sobillata delle prediche infuocate del reverendo Scarsdale. Mentre la spirale di raccapriccianti delitti sembra stringersi intorno allo stesso dottor Hunter, una più sinistra e sconvolgente scoperta lo attende al varco... Tra Thomas Harris, Jeffery Deaver, Patricia Cornwell il thriller, teso sulla corda di un incalzare paralizzante, che la stampa, inglese e tedesca, ha accolto come la rivelazione dell'anno.

Finding Refuge In A Quiet Rural Backwater, Dr David Hunter Hoped He Might At Last Have Put The Past Behind Him. But Then They Found What Was Left Of Sally Palmer& It Isn T Just That She Was A Friend That Disturbs Him. Once He D Been A High-Profile Forensic Anthropologist And All Too Familiar With The Many Faces Of Death, Before Tragedy Made Him Abandon This Previous Life. Now The Police Want His Help. But To Become Involved Will Stir Up Memories He S Long Tried To Forget. Then A Second Woman Disappears, Plunging The Close-Knit Community Into A Maelstrom Of Fear And Paranoia. And No One, Not Even Hunter, Is Exempt From Suspicion.Gruesome And Gripping, This Startling New British Crime Thriller Has An Unnerving And Original Twist.

It's been a good summer for forensics expert Dr David Hunter. His relationship is going well and he's in demand again as a police consultant. Life is good. Then a call comes from an old associate: a body has been found, and she'd like Hunter to take a look. The empty shell of St Jude's Hospital now stands awaiting demolition, its only visitors society's outcasts, addicts and dealers. A partially mummified corpse has been discovered in the hospital's cavernous loft, but not even Hunter can say how long it's been there. All he knows for sure is that it's the body of a young woman. And that she was pregnant. But the collapse of the loft floor reveals another of the hospital's secrets. A sealed-off chamber, still with beds inside. Some of them occupied... For Hunter, what began as a straightforward case is about to become a twisted nightmare that threatens everyone around him. And as the investigation springs more surprises, one thing is certain. St Jude's hasn't claimed its last victim . . . With its viscerally authentic forensics, menacing atmosphere and nerve-shredding tension, Simon Beckett's new crime thriller will leave you gasping.

A deep dive into darkness. Simon Beckett's masterful storytelling and macabre forensic details make his novels utterly chilling reads TESS GERRITSEN

Detective and mystery stories. Forensic anthropologist Dr David Hunter should be at home in London with the woman he loves. Instead, as a favour to a beleaguered colleague, he's on the remote Hebridean island of Runa to inspect a grisly discovery.

"Eight years ago they found the body buried on the moor. They were certain that it was one of Jerome Monk's teengage victims. Which left two more to find. But the search ended badly, with Monk safely behind bars, the momentum faltered. For forensics expert David Hunter and the rest of the recovery team, life moved on. And the dead were left undisturbed. But now a nightmare scenario unfurls. Monk has escaped and seems to be targeting anyone involved in that original ill-fated operation. As the maniac's violent trail edges ever closer, Hunter realises that nothing now--or then--is quite as it seems. And that the past is anything but dead and buried ..."--Pg 4 of cover.

One day, your son disappears from the playground. Ten years later, will you finally get the truth? The disappearance of firearms police officer Jonah Colley's young son almost destroyed him. A phone call from an old friend leads Jonah to the warehouse Slaughter Quay, and the discovery of four bodies, with a link to his son's case. Attacked and left for dead in the dark, Jonah is the only survivor. Under suspicion himself for what happened at Slaughter Quay, Jonah uncovers a network of secrets and lies about the people closest to him - forcing him to question what really happened to his son all those years ago... 'A terrific thriller from one of our finest crime writers at the top of his game.' Peter James 'A roaring, full-throated thriller.' Daily Mail 'First in a new series, this is a tense and twisty tale.' The Sun

"'Somebody!' I half-sob and then, more quietly, 'Please.' The words seem absorbed by the afternoon heat, lost amongst the trees. In their aftermath, the silence descends again. I know then that I'm not going anywhere... i> ean is on the run. We don't know why and we don't know from whom, but we do know he's abandoned his battered, blood-stained car in the middle of a sweltering, isolated, lonely part of rural France. Desperate to avoid the police, he takes to the hedgerows and country lanes only to be caught in the vicious jaws of a trap. Near unconscious from pain and loss of blood, he is freed and taken in by two women - the daughters of the owner of a rundown local farm with its ramshackle barn, blighted vineyard and the brooding lake. And it's then that Sean's problems really start... Superbly written, Stone Bruises is a classic nail-shredder of a thriller that holds you from the beginning and slowly, inexorably tightens its grip as the story unfurls and keeps you guessing until the unnerving and shocking final twist..."

We don't know why and we don't know from whom, but we do know he's abandoned his battered, blood-stained car in the middle of an isolated part of rural France at the height of a sweltering summer.