A teenager is considering suicide, egged on by internet ‘friends’. She is unsure whether to jump when she is helped by a supposed friend. Lexi is quickly on the scene and believes it to be suicide but her nephew knew the victim and is sure that the girl would not have killed herself. Then another suspected suicide’s body is discovered…
The Girl’s Last Cry is the second book in the Lexi Bennett series and I recently reviewed the first book: The Girls On Chalk Hill. There are some mentions of events from the last book but no major spoilers or detail.
The premature deaths of young people is hugely emotive. Lexi understands the pain of grief so is very conscious of how the families will be feeling. Her empathy also underpins her resolve to fully investigate the deaths even though they are probably suicides.
The book is fast paced and full of drama. I was hooked from the very start as the sinister messages encourage teens to take their own life. It is very dark in tone at times but this is softened by Lexi’s compassion. There are plenty of twists as the investigation proceeds and the suspense was maintained until the end.
The Girl’s Last Cry is an engaging and emotive police procedural and crime thriller.
The girl lies on the dark ground, one arm flung out as if she is still looking for someone to help her. But her wide eyes are staring upwards, and Lexi knows that it is too late…
Detective Lexi Bennett is walking through the quiet Canterbury streets when she hears screaming. Rushing towards the sound, she finds the body of a teenage girl lying beneath one of the city’s ancient towers. Lexi looks up at the cold grey stone, and vows that she will find answers. Did the girl jump or fall… or was she pushed?
Olivia’s distraught parents say their daughter was a talented musician with everything to live for. Lexi’s nephew, Sam, who knew Olivia, tearfully insists that she would never have taken her own life. But when a note is found, Lexi reluctantly wraps up the case.
Then another teenager is found dead on a deserted path beneath a cliff. Lexi is certain there’s a link, especially when she learns that the boy was a musician too. His note uses the same phrases as Olivia’s, and when a second person’s footprints are found at the scene, Lexi realises she is on the track of a master manipulator… and ruthless killer.
With her boss still unconvinced that the deaths are murders, Lexi races to find proof to back up her hunch, and to understand what lies behind these evil attacks on vulnerable children.
And then she gets a call that fills her with dread. Her nephew Sam is missing.
Can Lexi outsmart a truly brutal monster, or will her own family pay the price?
A totally gripping crime thriller that will have you reading late into the night. Fans of Karin Slaughter, Rachel McLean and J M Dalgliesh will love The Girl’s Last Cry.
Author Bio
In 2016, I entered and won Bloody Scotland’s Pitch Perfect competition. This secured me an agent and a three-book publishing deal with Orion for my police procedural series set in the world of tattoos and tattooing. My first novel, The Tattoo Thief, was translated into 15 languages, was a No 1 bestseller in Italy and is the first instalment of the internationally acclaimed Tattoo Thief trilogy. I also write in collaboration with my brother Nick Higgins – Canelo has published our action thriller series set in Afghanistan, Death In Kabul and Death in Helmand. Now I’m embarking on a fresh crime series with Bookouture. It’s set in Canterbury, featuring DI Lexi Bennett, newly appointed to lead the Major Incident Team after a spell working with the FBI’s specialist serial killer unit.
I divide my time between London and Edinburgh, where I am a co-founder of the Edinburgh Writers’ Forum, providing professional development and networking for writers.
To learn more about me and the books I write, visit my website at www.alisonbelsham.com
