Book Review: The Woman in the Woods

Charlie Parker is back, ably assisted by his dangerous but devoted friend, Louis, a retired hit man. A woman’s body is found in a Maine forest. The woman, Karis, died in childbirth five years before and was buried secretly but respectfully, but where is her child?

The reader knows Karis died fleeing in terror. Now Parker is hired to find her child. The Maine police are searching, too. So are a pair of horrendous villains, who are backtracking Karis.

The plot is tenuous at times; the motives of assorted villains sometimes unconvincing; the characteristic supernatural elements less subtly nuanced perhaps.

Nevertheless, this is a gripping addition to a splendid, highly original series.