Richard's Review:
If you haven’t read any of Tim Weaver’s superb David Raker mysteries before, don’t worry – The Black Bird stands perfectly well on its own, with Raker as the dogged, determined investigator who sees every dead end as a challenge; even an opportunity. (However, if you want to go back to Raker’s genesis, Weaver’s ‘Chasing the Dead’ is a great place to start).
The Black Bird opens with a classic Weaver conundrum. A young couple, Cate and Aiden Gascoigne, are caught on CCTV on Gatton Hill in Surrey, laughing together and seemingly without a care in the world. Moments later, their car has veered into a deep ravine, plunged to the bottom and exploded in a fireball. Chances of survival: nil. And yet… number of charred bodies in the smoking wreckage?
Nil.