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Saturday, 6 June 2020

#BlogTour The Curator by M.W. Craven


It's an absolute pleasure to take part in the BlogTour The Curator by M.W. Craven.

About the Author
A brand-new voice in British crime fiction, M. W. Craven was born in Carlisle but grew up in Newcastle. He joined the army at sixteen, leaving a decade later to complete a social work degree and spent seventeen years as a probation officer in Cumbria, rising to the rank of assistant chief officer.

The first in the Washington Poe series, The Puppet Show, won the 2019 CWA Gold  Dagger, has sold in numerous foreign territories and has been optioned for TV by Studio Lambert. M. W. Craven has been shortlisted for the Goldsboro Glass Bell Award and an Amazon Reader Award. He is also the author of the Avison Fluke novels, Born in a Burial Ground (shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger) and Body Breaker. The second in the Washington Poe series, Black Summer was published in June 2019.

Follow @MWCravenUK @LittleBrownUK on Twitter, on Facebookon Instagramon Goodreads,
Visit mwcraven.com, Buy The Curator


About the book
Called in to investigate, the National Crime Agency's Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw are faced with a case that makes no sense. Why were some victims anaesthetized, while others died in appalling agony?

Why is their only suspect denying what they can irrefutably prove but admitting to things they weren't even aware of? And why did the victims all take the same two weeks off work three years earlier?
And when a disgraced FBI agent gets in touch things take an even darker turn. Because she doesn't think Poe is dealing with a serial killer at all; she thinks he's dealing with someone far, far worse - a man who calls himself the Curator.

Review 
The best Poe by Craven yet.
Fingers are turning up left right and centre. Fingers that were severed while the victims were still alive. Poe and Tilly are determined to find out who is committing these atrocities, finding the victims identities and putting this monster, who has no scruples whatsoever, behind bars.

I suppose I am lucky I read the ecopy version of this book, because I highlighted a lot as I was reading, which I only do when the author writes the kind of points or ideas I want to refer back to eventually. I particularly liked the way Craven researched the whole BWC and BSC elements of the read - the psychological impact and how the victims go from a to b and finally to a very drastic z.

After reading this book there is no doubt in my mind that Craven is set to stay a successful fixture in the crime fiction world - it just gets better with each story. I really enjoy the way this author combines the ruthlessness of violent crime with an element of mystery, however it's the crime duo of Washington and Tilly that makes this read and series for that matter.

At this point Poe feels protective towards Tilly and is quick to defend when others are critical of her. Tilly is concerned for his health and overall well-being. The two are symbiotic, and perhaps in a way they have become family. Either way they are a crime solving duo to be reckoned with.

Kudos to Craven for the ending. Nice one. In equal measures also the well-plotted perpetrator of the story. It really is a fantastic read.

Buy The Curator at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Constable- Little Brown Books Uk, pub date 4 Jun. 2020 - Hardback (£16.99), Ebook (£9.99) and Audio. Buy at Amazon com.

Read my reviews of The Puppet Show and Black Summer by M.W. Craven.

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