When the Bough Breaks

May 1, 2024
In 1996, Wulfric Hagman was convicted of brutally executing his mentally, physically, and emotionally abusive lover, Trina Daley, then trying to kill himself. Trina's eldest kids, Salome and Jarod, also victims of Trina's abuse, discovered the bodies. After serving his 20-year sentence, Hagman returns to the remote part of north England where Trina died. Living with him are Jarod and Salome, now adults who still bear the scars of their mother's toxic abuse. They don't believe Wulf killed Trina--he often protected them--but all three of them have survived only by repressing the memories of that terrible night. They have coped with the help of local social worker Dagmara, who's been their friend, counsellor, and savior. But when an ambitious cop launches a fresh appeal to prove Wulf's innocence, the old wounds are reopened. Then two violent child and spouse abusers are murdered, and the situation escalates. Surely Wulf didn't kill these men too--or did he? Mark (The Burning Time, 2023) is a superbly gifted writer who creates a bleak, unforgiving setting, deeply damaged characters, and a plot that ramps up the violence, tension, and suspense to an almost unbearable level before an explosive ending that will leave readers utterly shattered.

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June 1, 2024
Is an ex-con ex-cop being framed for murder a second time? Mark's gritty crime yarn unfolds at first in splintered pieces, lurching slowly forward in time, beginning with the morning in 1995 when Cumbrian Police Constable Wulfric Hagman wakes up in a drunken stupor, calling for his wife, Trina. His subsequent discovery of Trina's savaged corpse is followed in short order by his arrest for her murder. The transcript of a juicy radio broadcast from the following year fills in the details of the case and describes Wulf's conviction and lengthy prison sentence. A rambling 2001 letter from Trina's eldest daughter, young adult Salome Delaney, presents a more sympathetic view of Wulf, who strove to block Trina's abusiveness and act as a responsible stepfather to Sal and her several siblings. Praise is also showered on Wulf's solicitor, Dagmara Scrowther, who fought for him and became a surrogate mother to the abandoned Delaney brood. Much more recently, an unidentified man is tortured and killed, and the killer's final words implicate Wulf, who's now out of prison. Unfortunately for Wulf, this victim turns out to be Barry Ford, the man Trina left him for decades ago. The story ultimately settles on Sal, now a police officer, her equally scarred brother Jarod, and their efforts to exonerate their stepfather. The first installment in a new series from the prolific author of the DS Aector McAvoy novels is masterfully plotted, teasing armchair detectives with pieces of the full murder puzzle. A welcome series kickoff from a seasoned veteran.

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