From The Ashes – Deborah Masson
It only takes one spark to reignite an old mystery . . .
DI Eve Hunter and her team are called to the scene of a fire that has destroyed a home for underprivileged children in Aberdeen. No-one knows how the blaze started; all they know is that one person didn’t make it out in time.
Her team have dealt with their fair share of tragedies but this case affects them each deeply – particularly when they start to suspect that everyone at the home, from the residents to the staff, has something to hide. And when a horrific discovery is unearthed in the ruins of the property, the team must ask themselves – did someone have a secret worth killing for?
I recieved a review copy from the publisher through Netgalley.
This is an excellent murder story but at times it can be harrowing too – children in care, victims of desperately sad circumstances or parental neglect or abuse. Very real, very well depicted by Deborah Masson and the plight of some of the youngsters in the story will not be quickly forgotten.
DI Eve Hunter and her colleagues are not immune to the tragedy they are called to investigate. A fire at a children’s residential home is a difficult situation – kids with no stability and very few possessions are forced from the place which should be their haven and all signs are this was arson…they have been targeted. But more upsetting is that one of the children didn’t get out the house in time. Trapped, alone and nobody heard him calling for help.
The death of a child has tensions running high amongst her team and when the press come sniffing Eve knows some of the details of the fire and the young life lost are going to light up newspaper headlines and make her task even more challenging.
Somewhat hindering her investigation is the fact one of her team is not focusing his full attention on the fire. An accident in the centre of Aberdeen has left several damaged cars, one shaken up police officer and an unidentified young man fighting for his life after being hit by the vehicles. Who is the mysterious injured man? Why is he not carrying any identification and what can be done to help him?
But the majority of the story is centred around the residential home for the children. It’s been a home for vulnerable children for many years and as we read deeper into the book we discover the previous owners were not the nicest of folk, the children fearful of their guardians and resorting to sneaking around behind their backs to keep secrets. The story of these former home residents are told in flashback form and it further amplified the desperately sad situation the children in care can sometimes find themselves in.
An arsonist needs to be caught, a killer identified and Deborah Masson juggles this right cast brilliantly. There are secrets to come out and it may destroy some lives if they do – but a child is dead and Eve Hunter is not going to rest until the killer is found.
Emotive, powerful and perfectly paced I really enjoyed this one.
From The Ashes is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format and you can order a copy here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/from-the-ashes/deborah-masson/9780552178259