Absorbing police procedural.

The Crying Cave Killings (Yorkshire Murders #3) by Wes Markin  

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Got to admit it took me a while to come to grips with this Yorkshire mystery. The past keeps intruding on the present (legitimately so) as the situation is set up, and for a while it’s chaos. DI Paul Riddick is a confused, complex  character with the past bleeding into the now.

Twenty years ago a teenage boy is found dead at Mother Shipton’s Cave, beneath the Petrifying Well. A petrified bear is missing from the scene. The murderer is apprehended but Riddock always had doubts

Now another teenage boy is found dead in the same cave with a soft toy teddy bear in his backpack.

Riddick (now on leave) draws lines no one else does. He’s damaged, compulsive, intuitive and often out of control.

The conclusion is complicated, messy, unexpected, and I loved it!

Just how many lives does Riddick have? As many as a cat it seems, even if his landings are way past his ken.

I didn’t realize this is part of a series so obviously you can read it as a stand alone. Perhaps the earlier titles would give more background into the threads that weave throughout, but I was happy with the chaos.

A Boldwood Books ARC via NetGalley.                                              

Many thanks to the author and publisher.