The Seventh book in the DI Ridpath series is out now on Canelo
MJ Lee returns with another entry into the DI Ridpath series, another tale of crime and conspiracy in the Greater Manchester area while overcoming personal difficulties.
Fans of my blog will know that I have followed the genesis, birth and growth of DI Ridpath ('just Ridpath') from the beginning under the penmanship of Mancunian author, MJ Lee. This series is a thrilling clash of thrills, spills and chills - combining the thumb turning efficiency of Lee Child with the prolific nature of James Patterson. Lee is able to weave a wonderful world of police work, the pressures they are under to get results whilst there being changes in the world as computer analysis and data seemingly attempts to alter the hunches a policeman would have had in the past.
This tale set amidst the still ongoing global pandemic makes the book feel current and now with its heart on the pulse of current affairs much like the work of pulp and dime novels would have been in a by-gone era; and there is a by-gone quality to our lead character. He seemingly is a maverick who works with the coroner but also has a foot in the police camp - this makes him a rogue in some people's eyes but also respected by others, and not adverse to putting some people's noses out of joint.
This case starts with the discovery of human hands in a backpack by a team of YouTube ghost hunters in an old abandoned children's home. The case then collides with that of an 11 year disappearance of a 16 year old in 2009 and the requirement for a death certificate to be approved to the family of that young girl. Ridpath uncovers the connection between the two cases thanks to a missing social worker who looked the other way when sexual abuse occurred at the children's home with shady callbacks to one Jimmy Saville.
The book does take a while to come together, but the timeline of one week for everything to unravel helps propel the second half of the book to something that is all consuming and impressive.
Lee writes again with such panache that it does surprise this reader that the book is not read by a larger more deserving audience. Go read this book and you shall not be disappointed.
WHEN THE GUILTY CRY is out now on all book formats
