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2000s: Can a group of true crime addicts take on the police to catch a serial killer?
2000s: Can a group of true crime addicts take on the police to catch a serial killer?
They call him ‘The Lover’ for the gruesome way he leaves his female victims – dead in her bedroom surrounded by rose petals
DI Dominic Bell is no closer to discovering the identity of the killer and time is running out.
It’s not just the police who wants to catch this killer – we are all armchair detectives but what if one of them, or a group of them really decide to take matters into their own hands
Clementine Stark is one of these people – who decides to join a hidden group of vigilantes who task each other with finding and documenting new evidence to further infiltrate and impress the group.
As Starke and Bell get closer to cracking the case neither of them realise they’re being watched. The killer is closer to them than they think, and he has his next victim – Clementine – firmly in his sights.
London is not highly evoked in the novel but there are some interesting scenes around a crime scene in Camden as the case unfolds. Each of the secret online crime club have to give up their location as only those living in the city are allowed to join this unique team. Each give their geo location so the leader of the group can see immediately where they all are and who might be closer to the latest scene of death. It’s a gruesome trail of death and detection but with the rise of social media, a very interesting and possible one!
Regent’s Park takes on a dark and mysterious tone with characters meeting here to discuss events and a pub on Euston Road – two places any booktrailer worth their salt will enjoy reading this book and watching people wondering just what they are doing on their smart phones..
The real setting here is the dark web and the landscape of social media and it’s a dark and dangerous one
Susan: @thebooktrailer
What a cracking premise for a novel! We all think we’re armchair detectives and we do love solving a mystery or two in a book but would you try it for real in the real world and try to beat the police?
That’s exactly what Clementine does in this novel and gets herself involved in the darker side of the web – where people hide behind aliases and icons to be jury, judge and executioner. Most people might go to extremes on tiwtter comments etc but to go out and gather evidence? Then to collate it on line so your fellow crime busters can see and comment? A great piece of insider info gets you likes as well as kudos. An invisible puppet master is tugging at everyone’s strings.
Add to that the other story about the actual police investigation and how their investigation collides with the social media warriors…
The story ramps along nicely with the hashtags, twitter handles neatly helping the plot to feel rela and in the moment. And that’s the gritty realisation – how social media can spread the word quicker than the word itself, how you can be whoever you are, can’t be sure of what you are reading, who you are talking to,, wanting likes and approval and the extremes some people go to to get social media fame.
Book groups are going to love this as many issues are explored. Picked this up at Theakstons crime festival and wolfed it down. Wolf being the operative word. Who is the hunter and who is being hunted in the world of social media? I spy with My Little Eye..
Destination: London Author/Guide: Stephanie Marland Departure Time: 2000s
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