Suspicious Minds – David Mark
There’s a dark core that runs through all of David Mark’s writing, whether it’s a by-product of community history in the landscapes of the north of England ( Still Waters , Cold Bones ), or the more modern areas of criminal activity found in his DS McAvoy series ( Scorched Earth ), in his standalone horror writing ( A Rush of Blood ) or historical fiction ( The Zealot’s Bones ). It’s not surprising then that even when he turns his hand to romantic melodrama in the style of Daphne du Maurier, that he somehow still manages to bring a dark edge to the story. The familiar strengths of David Mark’s writing are evident in Suspicious Minds from the get-go. The first is how he reliably establishes a tense dangerous situation, often involving a sympathetic character who is in a lot of trouble. We don’t yet know much about Liz in the first few pages of the prologue, but it’s hard to imagine that she has done anything bad enough to deserve being taken into the woods with the 9 year old daughter ...