DI Jack MacIntosh has a grisly case. Bodies are being discovered with their lips sewn together, but during the post mortem investigation the pathologist finds a severed rat’s head was placed inside the mouth before death. Meanwhile a journalist’s wife has been kidnapped and a ransom is demanded…
Three Broken Bodies is the fifth book in the revised and redeveloped DI MacIntosh series. There are follow on aspects to Jack’s personal life and the murder case that relates to his mother so there are spoilers.
Jack’s latest case is very unpleasant. I liked how the natural revulsion of the police characters is depicted, showing that exposure to such atrocities can still affect them emotionally. There is a gang element to the plot and the violence is as graphic as you might expect.
The book is written in the third person throughout to show the different layers to the plot. This allows us to see a variety of perspectives and feel the fear of the characters in danger. We witness the police investigation, gang members, potential victims, prison residents and a panicked husband of a kidnapped woman. There are lots of threads of plot which are woven together cleverly by the author.
Jack is a complex character and doesn’t always follow the rules. He works to his own code and keeps secrets from his friends and colleagues. His past plays a significant role in a number of the plot elements, for example his antagonistic relationship with the missing woman’s journalist husband and the murder of his mother.
Three Broken Bodies is a tense and enjoyable detective thriller with a fab lead character.
THREE BROKEN BODIES (Detective Jack Macintosh #5) by Michelle Kidd
MEET DETECTIVE JACK MACINTOSH IN THIS BRILLIANT CRIME SERIES.
An absolutely gripping crime thriller with a massive twist.
Detective Jack is called out to a body on the South Bank. The victim’s hands and feet are bound, her skin badly bruised, her lips crudely sewn shut.
Inside the dead woman’s mouth is the severed head of a rat.
This is the second body in two days.
The following night, a third body is discovered in a derelict brewery. The same bruising, the mouth sewn shut, a rat’s head. This time it’s a young man — and he’s been dead at least a week.
With no witnesses and no clues to who the victims are, Jack’s investigation is going nowhere.
Then he gets a call from journalist Jonathan Spearing. There’s no love lost between the two men — but now Jonathan needs Jack’s help. Katie Spearing is missing. She’s been gone for two days. And Jonathan just received a text: We have your wife.
Jack uncovers a connection between Katie Spearing and the three broken bodies. Now he’s in a desperate race against time.
Perfect for fans of Helen H. Durrant, Biba Pearce, Lynda La Plante, Angela Marsons and Rachel McLean.
READERS LOVE THE JACK MACINTOSH SERIES:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Truly gripping and suspenseful . . . keeps you guessing throughout.’ Bob
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Gripping and twisty. Couldn’t put it down.’ Sue W.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Full of unsuspected twists and turns . . . Incredibly fast-paced and puzzling.’ Nicola H.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Brilliant . . . This series gets better and better.’ Colin B.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A real page-turner.’ Lynda C.
THE DETECTIVE
Detective Inspector Jack MacIntosh is a dedicated police officer, the one person you would want to fight your corner. But he has been known to cross the line to get the job done. As a four-year-old boy he discovered his mother’s body swinging from a light fitting. Jack and his younger brother were taken into care — Jack did OK, his brother not so much. A bit of a loner, Jack has never married — although plenty of women would like to give it a shot. He lives in a charming mews cottage in central London. No one is quite sure how he can afford it on a detective’s salary.
MICHELLE KIDD
Michelle Kidd is a crime fiction author best known for the DI Jack MacIntosh and DI Nicki Hardcastle series. She qualified as a legal executive in the early 1990s, spending ten years practising civil and criminal litigation.
But the dream to write was never far from her mind and in 2008 she began writing the first book in what would later become the DI Jack MacIntosh series. Michelle now works full time for the NHS and lives in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. She enjoys reading, wine and cats — not necessarily in that order.
DI Jack MacIntosh has a grisly case. Bodies are being discovered with their lips sewn together, but during the post mortem investigation the pathologist finds a severed rat’s head was placed inside the mouth before death. Meanwhile a journalist’s wife has been kidnapped and a ransom is demanded…
