The Twenty

March 1, 2023
A series of brutal English murders is unmistakably linked to a convicted killer with the world's best alibi. The discovery of five bodies near the Northbrook Bridge would be disturbing enough if it weren't for the Roman numerals that mark the places they were dumped: XVI, XV, XIV, XIII, XII. "The killer is counting down," realizes DCI Adam Bishop of the Major Crimes Unit. Learning of the numerals, National Health Service oncologist Dr. Romilly Cole is instantly convinced these new crimes are linked to the four murders that landed her father, mild-mannered general practitioner Dr. Elijah Cole, in Belmarsh Prison back in 1995. At first Adam doesn't even want to see Romilly, whom he divorced three years ago over an affair she confessed. Even after he hears her out, he's certain that her father, who's still in Belmarsh, can't have committed these new crimes. But are they the work of a copycat so attentive that, like Cole, he also kidnaps and tortures his victims and conscientiously drains them of their blood? Has Cole inspired someone to continue his countdown from 20 victims to the last one? Or is he actively collaborating with a murderous conspirator to complete the series? As Bishop and his DS, newlywed Jamie Hoxton, work the case, the body count rises, and the threats come ever closer to the investigators' inner circle. Many of the tropes here, from the unsparingly detailed descriptions of the victims' final hours to the tormented backstory of a leading character whose father was a serial killer, are depressingly familiar, but Holland handles them adroitly, and readers prepared for a wild ride will glide over every implausible twist, shocked and eager for the next one. Meat and drink (sorry) for fans of serial homicide.

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March 13, 2023
Holland’s second serial killer whodunit, after 2022’s The Echo Man, pales in comparison to that impressive debut. After a corpse is found at an abandoned construction site, too damaged by the elements to identify, Hampshire Det. Chief Insp. Adam Bishop is called in to investigate. Bishop spots the characters “XII” in green spray paint at the scene, and a search of the area uncovers more bodies and more Roman numerals, suggesting the work of a killer keeping count of his victims. Then Bishop’s ex-wife, Romilly Cole, approaches him with a lead: decades earlier, when Romilly was 11, she unlocked her family’s off-limits outhouse to find that her father, Elijah Cole, had used the building to confine multiple women, whom he raped, tortured, and killed. Though Elijah’s been locked up ever since, Romilly is convinced he had a hand in the new murders, and Bishop fears the next victim could be extremely close to home. Holland is better at generating momentary tension than sensibly moving the story forward or ushering it to a satisfying conclusion. The result is intermittently exciting but largely unsatisfying. Agent: Noah Ballard, Verve Talent & Literary.