Paula Maguire, forensic psychologist, is called in to investigate a missing girl and the disappearance of a holy relic in Claire McGowan's exhilarating fourth novel in the series. Ken Bruen proclaims McGowan as 'Ireland's answer to Ruth Rendell'. Blood stains the altar. Can she be found?
The fourth in the crime series featuring forensic psychologist Paula Maguire by Claire McGowan acclaimed as 'Ireland's answer to Ruth Rendell' by Ken Bruen.
Victim: Female. Twenty-two years of age.
Reason for investigation: Missing person.
ID: Alice Morgan. Student. Last seen at a remote religious shrine in Ballyterrin.
Alice Morgan's disappearance raises immediate questions for forensic psychologist Paula Maguire. Alice, the daughter of a life peer in the Home Office, has vanished along with a holy relic - the bones of a saint - and the only trace is the bloodstains on the altar.
With no body to confirm death, the pressure in this high-profile case is all-consuming, and Paula knows that she will have to put her own life, including her imminent marriage, on hold, if they are to find the truth.
A connection to a decades-old murder immediately indicates that all may not be as it seems; as the summer heat rises and tempers fray, can Alice be found or will they learn that those that are hungry for vengeance may be the most savage of all?
A Savage Hunter is a taut, compelling thriller that merges ancient beliefs with a very modern crime. I love Paula Maguire, a real, flawed heroine with a complicated love life to rival Ruth's! All in all, a thoroughly satisfying and intelligent crime novel.
