The body of Father Patrick Burman, a convicted paedophile, was discovered in a Lincoln Lake in 2005. After a postmortem confirmed murder, DS Barry Dalton and DI Alex Gibb, initiate an investigation. Soon, they came across a man who lived a sordid life and was overly cautious about security. Of whom or what was he afraid? Who was behind his assassination?
But to get the full picture we must go back to 1984, Thomas Ferguson, a young boy residing in Glasgow's Lannercraig Children's Home, commits suicide after suffering from abuse. Despite the official ruling of suicide, DS Douglas Beattie is determined to continue investigating the case.
Returning to Burman's hometown of Glasgow, the detectives discover that he was one of six people, including priests, nuns, police officers, and lawyers, who were convicted in a large child abuse case that centred around three church-run children's homes.
This police procedural is the work of an author who has had experience handling these cases. The reader is guaranteed to be hooked from start to finish with the detectives uncovering a complex and twist-filled plot in a dark case spanning decades. My suspicions were constantly shifting as the story progressed and the many suspects had me fully engrossed. Their effective partnership, combined with their likeability and humour, makes me want to see Dalton and Gibb in more stories.
The narrative gains a sense of reality with Kim Booth's detective experience, keeping the reader eagerly anticipating the next chapter! This is a very well-written piece!
About the Author
Kim Booth was born in Lincolnshire, UK. After several jobs and a brush with the law decided to join the Lincolnshire Police, where he served 35 years, mainly in investigation roles.
These roles included many years as both as Detective Constable and Detective Sergeant in the CID. He went on to serve in specialist roles, including the Drug Squad. He further specialised in a conducting surveillance in the Regional Crime Squad (later National Crime Agency) Detective Sergeant in Special Branch and later Detective Inspector Head of Special Branch. He then moved on the be Detective Inspector Head of the Economic Crime Unit of the Lincolnshire Police dealing with all types of fraud, money laundering, and internet crime. During this time, he also supervised offences of paedophilia conducted buy offenders on the internet and the detention of suspects. After retirement he was kept to investigate a $350 million PONZI fraud and travelled to work with other law enforcement agencies in the Bahama US of A, Japan, Canada and New Zealand, He has over the years specialised in fraud investigation and been involved in many murder investigations including two serial killer enquiries, several kidnaps and extortion's, the successful investigation of the only murder by postal IED in the UK and the arrest and conviction of three contract killers.
After leaving the police, he worked as a Corporate Security Manager for a well know international holiday company for several years. Currently, he has fulfilled and long-standing intention to write true crime and crime fiction books. He lives in the city of Lincoln.
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