Perfect Remains (D.I. Callanach #1) by Helen Sarah Fields

 

From Goodreads

The first in a nail-shredding new crime series. Fans of M.J. Arlidge will be gripped from start to finish.

On a remote Highland mountain, the body of Elaine Buxton is burning. All that will be left to identify the respected lawyer are her teeth and a fragment of clothing.

In the concealed back room of a house in Edinburgh, the real Elaine Buxton screams into the darkness.

Detective Inspector Luc Callanach has barely set foot in his new office when Elaine’s missing persons case is escalated to a murder investigation. Having left behind a promising career at Interpol, he’s eager to prove himself to his new team. But Edinburgh, he discovers, is a long way from Lyon, and Elaine’s killer has covered his tracks with meticulous care.

It’s not long before another successful woman is abducted from her doorstep, and Callanach finds himself in a race against the clock. Or so he believes ... The real fate of the women will prove more twisted than he could have ever imagined.

Fans of Angela Marson, Mark Billingham and M. J. Aldridge will be gripped by this chilling journey into the mind of a troubled killer.

My thoughts

I grabbed a copy of this via BorrowBox the digital lending side of my local Library.

I gave this a 4 stars or 8/10.  This was a well written and engrossing read.  Perfect Remains is the first in the Perfect series of books, of which there are currently six.  The series features D.I. Callanach, who has just started a new job with a new team and feels that he has a lot to prove.  As a number of successful women are abducted and then their remains turning up usually having been set on fire.  D.I. Callanach finds himself on the case, trying to solve it and find the perpetrator of the crime.   One word of warning, some of the scenes are quite gruesome and not for the faint hearted in my opinion.

I enjoyed the interaction between D.I. Callanach and his team.  Sometimes, the person carrying out the crime is hidden in plain sight and can often already be known to the victims unfortunately.  

I do look forward to seeing where Helen Fields takes us next with the second in the series, Perfect Prey which I plan to borrow from BorrowBox soon.