Taunting the Dead (DS Allie Shenton 1)

Author/Guide: Mel Sherratt

Why a Booktrail?

2011: Nine out of ten murders are apparently committed by someone the victim knows. How far would you go to protect the ones you love? How far would you go to betray them?

ISBN: 978-1477817575
Genre: Crime

Comment

What you need to know before your trail

DS Allie Shenton has a difficult case on her hands, and this time it’s personal. She is investigating the murder of Steph Ryder and is taking a look at her family and friends. Steph’s husband Terry is already on their radar and so attention turns to him and other family members. But Allie suspects Terry and keeps going back to him with more questions keen to get to the truth. He’s a charmer alright and Allie finds herself succumbing to his charms.

The investigation and case grow wider and the bodies start to pile up, so the race is on for Allie to take control and to find the killer before it’s too late.

Locations

Reset

Travel Guide

Set in the seedy underbelly of Stoke on Trent, the stage is set for a police officer, DS Allie Shenton and her team to rout out the evil which has just killed Steph Ryder and which is threatening to kill more.

Stoke certainly has a unique cast of characters ranging from a bored housewife married to a gangster to alcoholics and snotty 17 year old daughters. This is Stoke’s underbelly of course and these people live in plain sight but with varying agendas. But Stoke is also a city of many facets –

Like any city it had its good points. Down-to-earth people who’d always offer a helping hand, a warm smile, a king word – sometimes in the potteries dialect – Wedgewood and Royal Doulton, Staffordshire oatcakes and the city’s angel of the north, Robbie Williams

The first part of the novel is a build up to the murder. Terry is a property developer in the city with many connections and favours waiting to be made good on. His business is a cover for his other activities and together with his family he lives the good life, flashy and brash, a man who likes being SToke’s no 1. whilst his wife Steph lives a life clouded by alcohol.

Part two surrounds Steph’s murder and the aftermath. The investigation shines a light on Terry’s illegal activities, and Allie has to plough throw a list of the local gangsters, loan sharks, non existent tenants and many more. You would not want to live in this part of Stoke! Man people make bad and untimely decisions taking them deeper into a dark side of life. And within this side of life, the language is as gritty and coarse as the gravel at the bottom of the canal.

The underbelly of the city, is gritty, raw and unnerving and the darker side of life has many many different shades of black.