I've been reading S.J.Bolton since her first book, Sacrifice and while I've mostly liked what I've read, I've been getting a little impatient. While each book was well written, there was no continuity between any of them. I liked her characters well enough to want to know what happened after.( Few of them seemed finished within their individual stories.) With DC Lacey Flint, she's finally settled on a main character. This is the DC introduced in Bolton's last book, Now You See Me. Flint is not an easy character to like, or even understand, but she is intriguing enough to want to follow along.
In Dead Scared, Flint goes undercover to discover why students are killing themselves in record numbers and unusually cruel ways. No one is sure there is a murder, much less a conspiracy.
Of course there's a strong unfulfilled attraction between Lacey and her nemesis, DI Mark Joesbury, which can make the dialogue a bit too Castle-like. But the action and character development prevent this from falling into the trap of becoming a sitcom.
Bolton also brings back psychiatrist Evi Oliver, first introduced two books back in Blood Harvest. Dead Scared made me go back for a reread, which was hugely satisfying, to tie up that book's loose ends. Now I can't wait for more. Can a Masterpiece Mystery be far behind?
