Calling of the Grave

by SimonBeckett (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2012

  $8.44

  When DI Terry Connor turns up on David Hunter's doorstep, it's an unwelcome reminder of the past in more ways than one. The two used to be friends before Connor's behaviour caused a bitter rift. And the news the policeman brings is even less welcome: the psychotic rapist and murderer Jerome Monk has escaped from high security prison. Monk's is a name all too familiar to Hunter. Eight years before he'd part of an ill-fated Body Recovery team assembled to try and find the graves of Monk's teenage victims on the bleak expanse of Dartmoor. Only one of the missing girls' bodies was ever found, and Monk's own controversial involvement in the search led to more failure and a violent denouement. And now Monk is on the loose - and seems to be targeting anyone involved with the original search. Then Hunter receives a mysterious appeal for help from Sophie Keller, a young woman who also worked on the operation, he suddenly finds that the past is far from dead and buried. Neither the events unfolding now, nor those from all those years ago, are quite as they seem. And as the maniac's bloody trail edges ever closer, Hunter is forced to question who he can really trust. Especially when his own life depends on it...

• Used

  Paperback
  2010

  $3.31

  When a body is found on an isolated region of Dartmoor, forensic anthropologist Dr David Hunter is asked to join the search for further remains also believed to be buried nearby. The body belongs to a victim of Jerome Monk, a violent rapist and serial killer now serving a life sentence after one of the longest manhunts in UK history. Abnormally strong, Monk is a physical freak believed to have murdered at least five teenage girls, although only one has ever been found. With Monk remaining silent as to the fate of his victims, it's hoped the discovery of the first grave will prove a breakthrough. Hampered by the harsh conditions on the Moor as well as internal disputes, the entire operation seems doomed to failure. When Monk undergoes an apparent change of heart and agrees to assist with the search, Hunter is unhappy at the prospect of the killer being brought out to Dartmoor, and convinced his motives are far from what they seem. But the imminent arrival of Monk is the least of his problems. Because a dangerous woman from Hunter's past has reappeared. Beautiful and insane, Grace Strachan tried to kill him once before. Now she's back, leaving a trail of innocent blood in her wake - and this time she is determined to succeed ...

• Used

  Hardcover
  2011

  $12.07

  'At first glance it could have been anything - a stone, a knotted root - until you looked more closely. Thrusting out of the wet earth, its bones visible through rags of flesh, was a decomposing hand...' It was eight years ago that they found the body buried on the moor. They were certain that this was one of psychotic rapist and multiple murderer Jerome Monk's teenage victims. Which left just two more bodies to find. But the ill-conceived search ended badly. And with Monk safely behind bars, the momentum faltered. For forensics expert David Hunter, and those others who were part of the recovery team, life moved on. And the dead were left undisturbed. Now, though, a nightmare scenario unfurls. Monk has escaped and seems to be targeting anyone involved in that original ill-fated operation. Lured back to the moors by a desperate call for help, Hunter begins to realise that neither the events unfolding now - nor those of eight years ago - are quite what they seem. And as the maniac's violent trail edges ever closer, the past is suddenly anything but dead and buried...