The House in the Woods by Mark Dawson
FOUR MURDERS. TWO DETECTIVES. ONE MYSTIFYING CRIME.
On Christmas Eve, DCI Mackenzie Jones is called to a shooting at a remote farmhouse. Ralph Mallender believes his father lies dead inside. When three more bodies are discovered, it's clear a festive family gathering has turned into a gruesome tragedy.
At first it seems like an open and shut case: a murder-suicide committed by Ralph's volatile brother Cameron. Then new evidence makes Mack suspect the man who reported the crime is in fact the perpetrator.
But Mack isn't the only one with a stake in the case. Private investigator Atticus Priest has been hired to get Ralph acquitted. That means unearthing any weaknesses in Mack's evidence.
Irascible, impatient, and unpredictable, Atticus has weaknesses of his own. Mack knows all about them because they share a past - both professionally and personally. This time round, however, they aren't on the same side. And as Atticus picks at the loose ends of the case, everything starts to unravel in a way neither of them could ever have predicted...
The House in the Woods is the first book in the gripping Atticus Priest murder mystery series from the multi-million selling author of the John Milton and Isabella Rose thrillers.
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PRAISE FOR MARK DAWSON:
'Absolutely brilliant' - Mail on Sunday
'A literary sensation' - Daily Telegraph
'A great thriller writer on the top of his game' - Steve Cavanagh, Sunday Times bestselling author
'Nerve-shreddingly tense. Utterly addictive' - M.J. Arlidge
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The Location
Morse had Oxford. Roy Grace has Brighton. Atticus and Mack have beautiful Salisbury, a quintessential English city drenched in history and blessed with a position amidst some of the most beautiful countryside in England. With its ancient streets, the cathedral and nearby Stonehenge, it's not the sort of place you'd expect to find crime. But it has a dark underbelly and a history of murder - Atticus and Mack find themselves investigating new deaths and uncovering old secrets.
The Detectives
Atticus Priest: a disgraced police detective sacked after one too many indiscretions, now working as a private investigator. Cursed with an obsessive personality, he works compulsively on all his cases and his deductive powers are astonishing. Smart, restless, observant, and egotistical - he's impossible to work with and yet too brilliant to ignore.
Mackenzie Jones: a senior detective in Wiltshire CID, she's intelligent but modest. She used to be Atticus's boss and has the patience to deal with his eccentricities. But, to her dismay, she found herself blurring the personal with the professional as the two detectives entered into a relationship together and she's still dealing with the fall-out.