‘Scare Me to Death’ by C J Carver

Published by Bloodhound Books,
25 March 2021.
ISBN: 978-1-91394241-0 (PB)

The story opens on a flight in Morocco, which explodes in mid-air, killing 214 people on board. Only thirteen people survived. We then roll forward sixteen years.

This is the fourth book in this series. PC Lucy Davies is now stationed in Bristol and engaged to DI Farris MacDonald. They are keeping their relationship a secret as relationships between officers in the same station are frowned upon and may result in one of them having to move to a different station.

When Lucy received a call from her mother asking her to help her friend’s son Ricky Shaw who has been accused of murder, her reaction is no. Ricky is being held at Kensington Police Station which is outside her jurisdiction. It is also the station run by Chief Superintendent Magellan, who got her kicked out of the Met.

Later she receives a call from Ricky’s mother’s Jaya, begging her to help Ricky who she says is innocent. Despite her entreaties Lucy is not swayed until Jaya says she can tell Lucy where she can find her father. Her long lost father that she hasn’t seen since she was eight, and whom her mother refuses to speak about.  It is blackmail, but it is a possible lead.

Dan Forrester ex M15, is now working as a global political analyst. Returning from a job abroad, Dan receives a call from Sergeant Milton of the Kensington and Chelsea police making enquiries about the murder of Kaitlyn Rogers, a woman in whose address book they have found his number, and she wants to speak with him. Dan’s problem is that there is a period in his life of which he has no memory.  Could this woman be from his past? It was when he first became aware of the gaps in his memory that he encountered PC Lucy Davies.  At his meeting with Sergeant Milton, he is shown a photograph of the victim. But he doesn’t recognise her. Then later he has a flash back.

When it transpires that the woman Ricky is accused of killing is the Kaitlyn Rogers, the woman that Dan could not remember, Lucy gets herself onto the team. As Lucy begins investigating, she realises that the murder is tied up in the bombing of that doomed flight sixteen years ago where 214 people died. The search for answers took Kaitlyn back to Morocco, so that is where Dan heads, but he is blocked at every turn, people either don’t want to help, or are too scared to help.

Meanwhile Lucy is in the track of her missing father, but will the truth bring happiness or disaster?

With multiple threads this is an explosive, forgive the pun, story, with many twists and turns. Ingeniously plotted and cleverly constructed, this is a compelling read, that keeps one turning the pages. I just could not put it down. There is mystery upon mystery, not just a murder investigation, but who and where is Lucy’s father?  There are many secrets.

Yet again C J Carver delivers an incredible read.  Most highly recommended.
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Reviewer: Lizzie Sirett

Caroline Carver was brought up on a dairy farm. At 18 she headed for the bright lights of London and four years later took a holiday in Australia which turned into a ten-year stay, working for the Sydney arm of several major international publishers. Between jobs, she travelled widely and adventurously: back-packing in South-East Asia on $10 a day for nine months, walking in New Zealand, trekking in Nepal and riding a camel through the Thar Desert are just a few of her travel experiences. Her first novel Blood Junction won the CWA Debut Dagger and was selected by Publishers Weekly as one of the best mystery books of the year.

http://www.cjcarver.com