Dead Scared [Paperback]

I'll admit I was a bit concerned when SJ Bolton seemed to be turning to more straightforward detective fiction with her last book Now You See Me, as I'd enjoyed her previous horror/psychological thrillers so much. I had a similar doubts when Kate Atkinson introduced her Jackson Brodie character, but now I absolutely love him and I'm starting to feel the same way about Bolton's enigmatic creation, DC Lacey Flint.

This is the second outing for Flint and her boss/love interest, DI Mark Joesbury. In Now You See Me, Lacey was portrayed as a sociopathic loner and it was only at the very end of the book that we got any insight into who she really was and why she lived her life in such a reckless and dangerous way. In Dead Scared (possibly because of what she went through last time round?) she's a much more open, accessible character and the Unresolved Sexual Tension between her and Joesbury is ratcheted up several notches as they investigate a spate of suicides amongst the bright young things in a Cambridge college.

The deaths don't fit any recognised pattern; the students are female and are killing themselves in increasingly violent and and creative ways, including self-immolation and decapitation. Lacey goes undercover to inveigle her way into college life and gain the trust of those who knew the victims, her only confidant being college psychiatrist, Evi Oliver who was close to several of the women on a professional basis and is just as keen to find out why they're ending their seemingly fulfilling and promising lives.

SJB fans might recognise Evi Oliver as the psychiatrist who wandered into a web of dark and cultish goings-on in a remote Lancashire village in Bolton's third novel, Blood Harvest, and a couple more characters from that book also put in brief appearances. However, it's absolutely 100% not necessary to have read any of her previous work in order to enjoy this book for what it is - an exciting and intelligent thriller with a breakneck pace, particularly towards the end as Lacey and Evi's investigations unearth some shocking secrets and the tension is cranked up even further. For my money there isn't any unnecessary padding or scene-setting, and the nail-biting ending is very satisfying but also fairly open - leaving a lot of unfinished business between Lacey and Joesbury and at least two other characters, which I look forward to reading more of in the next instalment. (And on a lighter note, there's a lovely dog called Sniffy who I'd love to see making a reappearance too!)

So that's five out of five crackers from SJ Bolton now; she can't put a foot wrong as far as I'm concerned.

DC Lacey Flint is sent to work undercover at Cambridge University, posing as a student at St John's College. She is sent there by DI Mark Joesbury, after it emerges that an alarming number of students are committing suicide there in unusual and bizarre ways. A previously established personal bond between Lacey and Mark means that he is very hesitant for her to be sent into this situation, but she is nevertheless placed there, with a psychiatrist named Evi Oliver being the only other person there who knows that Lacey is not a real student. Having treated some of the young women who have suffered depression, and reported to her about having experiencing strange, unsettling dreams and visions, Evi is aware of the situation and is also beginning to experience disturbing events in her own home and life too. Despite not being assigned to actually investigate the situation, merely to be on-site and pose as a depression-prone student, Lacey finds herself discovering some deeply uncomfortable facts about what has been happening, and cannot help but begin to look further, especially after she herself begins to experience similar terrible nightmares.

The apparent suicides are diverse in the methods used and the results are truly frightening: 'We've got jumping off high buildings, self-immolation, self-stabbing, self-decapitation. It's as if they're competing to see who can come up with the most bizarre exit strategy.' There are a few flashback chapters dotted within the main story that slowly build to give us parts of the picture regarding what led to these suicides and who may be involved, but you are really kept on tenterhooks by the author. Lacey's experiences are recounted in the first-person, it is her we most closely follow here, but the author also frequently offers us the points of view of Evi, and Mark too, which gives us more insight into the characters themselves, into what is happening, and how it is perceived by each of them. As time progresses, more unusual happenings lead Evi and Lacey to wonder, what is real and what is imagined? How are these events all occurring, are they really just individual suicides, could the Internet have a role to play in inciting them, is something even more sinister going on?

With unresolved tension and attraction between Lacey and her boss Mark, the reader is intrigued as to what may or may not happen on a personal level, as well as with their professional relationship. This is my first read by this author - I believe the characters were first featured in previous book Now You See Me, which I must go back and read. This is a scary, dark and compelling thriller, with a cleverly weaved plot and an unsettling atmosphere. It was intriguing reading this story featuring Cambridge locations in such a way, as it is a place I frequently visit and so this added to the impact of the story for me. I look forward to reading the previous, and future, novels by S. J. Bolton with relish. I won't read them alone in the dark though!

With this second instalment of her Lacey Flint series, SJ Bolton has set herself a new standard - one that ensures her place amongst the very best of contemporary crime writers.

Although I enjoyed the first in the series, Now You See Me, I had some reservations around both style and characterisation. But not with this one. Scary enough to be truly spine-tingling, well-plotted enough to keep the suspense going throughout and with some really funny moments to lighten the tone, Bolton has given us a real treat of a novel. I felt the lead character, detective Lacey Flint, has been changed quite a bit since her last outing and for the better. She has become a more open, much more likeable character, less of a loner and now with a sense of humour and considerably less angst - all to the good. Her interaction with Evi Oliver, student counsellor, is very convincing as is her relationship, both personal and professional, with DI Mark Joesbury.

The plot about a spate of students committing suicide couldn't be much darker, and there are bits that are very unsettling and downright creepy. Bolton handles the tension masterfully right up to the end and certainly left this reader hoping that the series will continue for some time to come. Highly recommended.