Harrogate Crime Series – Malcolm Hollingdrake – Tags: book series, British crime, crime, crime series, detective, detective series, Harrogate, Jack the Ripper, Malcolm Hollingdrake, murder, mystery, police procedural, Yorkshire
Book Review | Detective & Mystery
Malcolm Hollingdrake’s well-established, highly praised crime series, set in the gorgeous Yorkshire spa town of Harrogate.
The books in the Harrogate Crime Series masterfully blend police procedural, investigation, and personal narratives. The beautiful town of Harrogate provides a backdrop for the threat posed by cold-blooded (serial) killers. All written in Malcolm Hollingdrake’s unique, sometimes poetic but always eloquent, writing style we love.
The Books
Each of the fourteen books features Cyril Bennett at the head of his team, including David Owen, plus the pathologist, Dr Julie Pritchett. The reader follows their struggles and feels their indignation at yet another horrific death.
Although the series does not need to be read in order, the experience will be so much better for the reader who starts with book one and follows through. Where Only the Dead (#1) takes us back to the trenches of Flanders’ fields during WWI, Hell’s Gate (#2) covers the harrowing topic of human trafficking. Truly shocking. After reading Flesh Evidence (#3), you might not want to touch honey and Game Point (#4) … we’re not sure you will keep your eyes dry. Dying Art (#5) deals with a murder in the world of art and you will miss out if you start the series with this fifth book, is all we say. In Crossed Out (#6), there’s something with the colour red… but there are also crosses and the presence of a dark and disturbed mind.
The Third Breath (#7) has a thrilling new case and a cold-blooded murderer but also reflects on previous investigations and haunting memories of the past. Treble Clef (#8) involves a murderous game of cat-and-mouse and in Threadbare (#9), you think you know the culprit, but oh boy, are you mistaken… twists and turns galore. Are the accidents in Fragments (#10) really accidents or do we have another serial killer on our hands? Uncertainty of Reason (#11) sees Cyril Bennett in a more managerial role, but even if the grey cells are a match, Bennett is no Hercule Poirot; he aspires to be involved in the case, the hunt for a violent sociopath on a dark and gruesome path.
—— Read the full book review on Medium ——
*at the top of the review is a FREE link for non-Medium members*