"An ancient legend reborn. A killer recreating dark rituals. And a detective racing to break the circle before it’s complete.
When the body of a teenage girl is found posed in the Merry Maidens stone circle, her face coated in clay and ochre, DS Liam Kilshaw is drawn into a case where near-forgotten fictions bleed into brutal fact.
With echoes of an old folktale of dancers turned to stone, the scene is more about staging than superstition. And when two skeletons are unearthed beneath a nearby stone, Kilshaw realises the past is far from dead and buried.
As he hunts for a missing farmhand linked to the girl, more victims surface, each placed with ritual precision in remote ancient sites. With the noose tightening, Kilshaw must decipher centuries-old secrets to break the circle. Because in this deadly game of ancient rites and cold-blooded murder, the killer is saving the most important sacrifice for last.
A haunting crime thriller where medieval legends collide with modern murder."
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Eerie and atmospheric
I've read quite a few of Matt Brolly’s books over the years, but I’ve actually never picked up one from the DS Liam Kilshaw series before now. Even though this is the third instalment, I didn't find it too difficult to follow the main plot, so it definitely works as a standalone.
There’s clearly a lot of character development and history that I've missed by jumping in late. Liam is obviously a man carrying a fair bit of baggage and while the author gives enough context to understand his current state of mind, I think I would've felt a much stronger emotional connection to him if I’d been there from the start. It felt a bit like being a guest at a party where everyone else knows the inside jokes – not the author’s fault at all, just a reminder that I need to go back and read the first two!
The setting is what really made this one for me. It’s incredibly atmospheric, using the rugged backdrop of Cornwall to great effect. The story kicks off with a really chilling discovery at the Merry Maidens stone circle, where a girl’s body has been staged in a way that feels tied to ancient rituals and folklore. I absolutely loved this folk-horror element; it gave the whole mystery a much darker and more unsettling edge than your average police procedural. The way local legends were woven into the investigation kept me engaged.
In terms of pace, it’s a bit of a slow burner with very little action in the traditional sense. Instead, it relies on a sense of mounting dread and tension that just oozes out of the pages. If you prefer high-octane chases, this might feel a bit quiet, but for me, the suspense was spot on. It’s a very solid read that has definitely convinced me I need to catch up on Liam’s earlier cases.
Many thanks to the author, Amazon Publishing UK, Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of this, a new series for me.
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