The serial killer he couldn’t catch is dead….

Can DI Rob Marshall save his last victim before she dies too?

Met cop DI Rob Marshall is hot on the trail of the serial killer known as the Chameleon, who has abducted, tortured, and killed a series of young women in Northwest London. As they close in, the Chameleon—who switches identity to get close to his victims—shoots Marshall’s partner and escapes.

But when the Chameleon’s body is found two years later, Marshall must return to his home town of Melrose in the Scottish Borders and face the tragedy that’s haunted him for 20 years and made him leave in the first place.

The Chameleon’s final victim is still missing–can Marshall unpick the Chameleon’s latest identity in time to save her from a lonely death?

I am grateful to Ed James for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook of The Turning of our Bones.

The Turning of Our Bones is the first book in a new series for Ed James. A perfect time to discover an author you may not have read in the past and for returning fans it is a chance to get to know some new characters and know this is an author who will put these characters through the emotional turmoil we seem to love to read about.

The story starts in London, a woman returning home late at night after a long shift finds her path is bloked by a large van. As she navigates her way around it she is attacked and becomes the next victim of a serial killer who has, thus far, managed to elude the police.

One of the key investigators is DI Rob Marshall. He has been working on a profile of the killer and believes he may have made a breakthrough but while a surveillance operation is underway the killer confronts Marshall and his partner. He draws a gun on the pair and opens fire. Faced with the choice of saving his partner’s life or chasing down the gunman Marshall has no real time to weigh up the options he makes his choice and has to live with the consequences of his actions.

Spin forward two years and Marshall is no longer working on apprehending killers for the Met Police. He has been moved to a role in traffic collisions and is counting down the days until he leaves the force. But an unexpected development sees Marshall leaving London to head to the Scottish Borders – the killer has been found. Despite escaping capture in London the man who haunted Marshall’s dreams has turned up in Scotland. Dead.

Marshall is heading to the Borders, he is heading home to confirm the body the police recovered is indeed that of the killer he had been hunting. When he arrives Marshall finds himself drawn into the world he thought he had left behind years ago. Old friends and family are all around him and new colleagues, challenging new colleagues, need to be won over if Marshall is to have any involvement in wrapping up the loose ends of his long-running investigation before he heads back to London.

I’d been enjoying the story while it was a London tale but when the action shifted to the Scottish Borders (a much overlooked location in crime fiction) I loved this book even more. Places I have visited but don’t really know came to life as Ed James thrust Marshall into the land of his childhood. Towns I’d considered to be part of a sleepy, rugby country suddenly took on life and a dynamic feel that I’d not associated with the area. Even better there was a frantic race against time predicament for the police to solve and a hidden enemy for the readers to puzzle over.

The crimes which are committed in The Turning of Our Bones are firmly in the dark and gritty side of crime fiction – this is the type of story I enjoy the most so it absolutely ticked all my boxes and I’ve already been recommending it to other readers.

I can’t wrap up the review without first giving the audiobook narrator, Angus King, the plaudits he deserves for his role in my enjoyment of The Turning of Our Bones. I’ve heard a fair few books which Mr King has worked on and he always delivers an enagaging performance. One of the most trusted names in my Audible Library, seeing Angus’s name on an audiobook will help sway me towards buying it. In the case of The Turning of Our Bones he has already shaped the characters for me and given them the life outwith the page, he is a joy to listen to when the action ramps up. And it ramped up to great effect in this book.

As I said at the outset of this review – a great opportunity to get into a brand new series. You can read The Turning of Our Bones and you’ll be ready for more DI Marshall stories as soon as they become available. Fabulous listening and a cracking read.

The Turning of Our Bones is available as an audiobook and also in digital and physical book versions. You can order a copy on your format of choice here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BKR181C3/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0