Five - Book Review

Five
by Ursula P. Archer

What is it about:
EVERY CORPSE IS A CLUE

A woman is found murdered in a field. Tattooed on her feet is a strange combination of numbers and letters.

Detective Beatrice Kaspary quickly identifies these as map co-ordinates, which lead the police to a ‘treasure box' containing several severed body parts – and a note from the killer with a series of cryptic clues to the identity of the next victim.

So begins a desperate scavenger hunt in which Beatrice herself becomes a pawn in the killer's game of cat and mouse, as she risks all to uncover the murderer.

What did I think of it:
So Ursula P. Archer is actually Ursula Poznanski, but I guess they made her name sound more English for the English translation of this book.

Anyway: I picked this up because I really enjoyed Poznanski's YA book Erebos, and I was curious about her other books.

And this is a really cool read!

Beatrice and her colleague Florin get to deal with a killer who uses Geo-caching to lead the police to his victims. I haven't participated in Geo-caching myself, but know enough about it that I really enjoyed this aspect of the mystery.

The killer leads the police on a hunt that keeps raising the stakes. As clue after clue is found and solved, things get more and more suspenseful and time is running out. Will Beatrice and Florin catch the killer? And why is the killer leading them on this grisly hunt?

I was gripped from the start and had to keep reading to find out what happened next. Apart from the murder investigation there's also things happening in Beatrice's personal life, but those fitted very well within the overall story and didn't distract from the suspense.

All in all this is a really good read that I can advice to anyone who likes a good detective story. I will certainly keep an eyes out for more books by Poznanski.

Why should you read it:
It's a very suspenseful Detective