The Curator by M.W. Craven @MWCravenUK @LittleBrownUK

Book Description:

It’s Christmas and a serial killer is leaving displayed body parts all over Cumbria. A strange message is left at each scene: #BSC6

Called in to investigate, the National Crime Agency’s Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw are faced with a case that makes no sense. Why were some victims anaesthetized, while others died in appalling agony? Why is their only suspect denying what they can irrefutably prove but admitting to things they weren’t even aware of? And why did the victims all take the same two weeks off work three years earlier?

And when a disgraced FBI agent gets in touch things take an even darker turn. Because she doesn’t think Poe is dealing with a serial killer at all; she thinks he’s dealing with someone far, far worse – a man who calls himself the Curator.

And nothing will ever be the same again . . .

My Thoughts:

The Curator is the third book in the Washington Poe crime series featuring Detective Washington Poe and his socially awkward side kick Tilly Bradshaw. The author gives enough background within this story for it to read as a standalone but I would highly recommend reading the previous books simply because they are brilliant.

With a great opening to get us hooked, the author doesn’t let up with a gripping and steady pace throughout. All the elements I have loved from the previous books are as present in this one. Poe’s springer spaniel Edgar, threatens to still the lime light as usual and he is a great asset to the series, even though he sadly only has minor parts. Tilly is her usual intellectually brilliant self and the working relationship between her and Poe is made of award winning stuff.

The case is a complicated one with body parts turning up with a code which will only ever be a matter of time for Tilly to crack. The investigation takes twists and turns as Poe and Tilly close in on finding out just who the Curator is. I have to say the who and why makes for some seriously jaw dropping reading and the ending, well it just makes me love Poe that little bit more for standing by his morals.

The Curator is a story that will grab your attention from the start and never lets go. I’ve said it before and I will say it again with my reviews for this series, the characters are what make it the compulsive reads that they are. With an intellectual case with each offering, this is yet another book that I struggled to put down. A page turning, unputdownable read at the top of it’s genre.

My thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK and NetGalley for an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in anyway.