Adam Colclough lives and works in the West Midlands, he writes regularly for a number of websites, one day he will get round to writing a book for someone else to review.
When Maddie Friar goes missing after the Midsummer fair in Cinderfield, a small town near to the Forest of Dean, the police are dismissive of her sister Adele’ concerns. They brush her off by saying she will likely return home in a few hours. When she doesn’t Adele takes matters into her own hands.
This latest disappearance catches the attention of forensic investigator Laughton Rees. It fits a pattern of similar vanishings going back for twenty years and linked to folk tales about the sinister Cinderman. Working with Maddie's sister, she uncovers crimes people in high places are willing to go to any length to keep secret.
This second Laughton Rees novel from the author of the Sanctus trilogy delivers high octane thrills from page one. Toyne shows a neat hand for keeping frantic action going without resorting to tired clichés.
He is equally adept at using the unique atmosphere and culture of the Forest of Dean for dramatic effect. Creating a setting that resembles but is in key aspects alarmingly at odds with the contemporary world. An ancient place where anything could happen, including terrible crimes.
In Rees, Toyne has created a central character with the depth to sustain a long series, of which this reader is already keen to see the next instalment.
