Judge not the man
Charles Balcombe cannot control his alter ego.
BlackJack is killing for fun and DI Munro knows his partnership with Balcombe can’t continue.
While Balcombe seeks help, Munro is asked to work for the Hong Kong governor’s aide-de-camp. He seems to be sidelined as Garrett resumes his hunt for the Squeezed-heart murderer.
But people have secrets and the more Munro investigates, the murkier they seem. When people start dying and with Balcombe’s help, Munro tries to get to the bottom of a conspiracy of silence.
Will he find the truth?
Will Garrett catch his killer?
Will Balcombe learn the truth about himself?
As the psychoanalyst told him: a third of the mind is darkness. If you dig too deep, be prepared. You won’t like what you find there.
This is book three of the series which should be read in order.
Murray Bailey Is the author of Amazon bestseller Map of the Dead, the first of the series based on his interest in Egyptology. His main series however is the Ash Carter thrillers, inspired by his father’s experience in the Royal Military Police in Singapore in the early 1950s.
Murray is well traveled, having worked in the US, South America and a number of European countries throughout his career as a management consultant. However he also managed to find the time to edit books, contribute to articles and act as a part-time magazine editor.
Murray lives on the south coast of England with his family and a dog called Teddy.
My thoughts: we return to Hong Kong and Balcombe is a man in trouble, he can’t control the murderous BlackJack side of his personality anymore. He’s sleepwalking and having to rely on his friends, and Albert his rickshaw driver, to piece his nights back together. The blackouts, the drinking, it isn’t going to end well. Detective Garrett is gunning for him and Munro is in half a mind to let his colleague take him down.
There’s a missing girl in danger with links to the governor’s house, and Munro asks for Balcombe’s help, as long as he sees pyschologist Dr Georgina Swift and get some help.
Even Balcombe is getting worried about his alter ego, about the gaps in his memory and the number of bodies that keep winding up in the morgue. As the lines begin to blur, can he save himself or is it too late?
Another gripping thrill ride of a read, as Balcombe tries to decipher his own psyche and change his ways, before he hurts someone who doesn’t deserve it. I cannot wait for book four – if the ambiguous ending doesn’t mean it’s all done for Balcombe.
*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 