“It only takes a second to sin,” Father Thomas said. He believes in saving souls, but Charles Balcombe is beyond saving. His control over his killer instinct appears to be weakening. BlackJack has killed again and more questions are being asked of Detective Inspector Munro. He is under increasing pressure to solve the murders, especially when he picks up more cases from Kowloon rather than solving his own.
As Balcombe battles with his demon, he investigates the death of a young woman. Was it an accident or did she kill herself? At first Balcombe thinks it’s straightforward but as he digs, other cases reveal an evil in Hong Kong. One that could consume them all.
Set in 1954, this is book 2 of the series. It can be read as a stand-alone but the author recommends book 1 (Once a Killer) first.
Perfect for fans of Chris Carter, David Baldacci and Tom Wood.
My thoughts: Balcombe is asked to look into a supposed suicide by a friend, the young woman was a Catholic and the scene felt odd. She wasn’t depressed and the last thing she’d done was take confession.
While he’s digging into her life and finding other suspicious deaths of young women, Inspector Murdo has his hands full. He’s looking into a cold case where a little girl went missing, and trying to keep another detective from getting too close to the BlackJack killings – he doesn’t need anyone to connect too many of the dots.
Balcombe is starting to lose control of BlackJack, the most recent killings have been extra brutal and he messed up slightly, leaving a clue that Munro’s colleague picks up on. Could it all get too hot for the unlikely pair?
There was less Albert in this book, which was a shame, but the cases Munro and Balcombe worked on were interesting and shocking, especially Balcombe’s – you won’t guess the ending at all. This series gets better with each book and is currently free on Kindle Unlimited.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 