Past Life

British author Mark’s fine ninth police procedural featuring Hull Det. Sgt. Aector McAvoy (after 2019’s Cold Bones) opens with psychic Dymphna Lowell providing a reading for a taciturn stranger who shows up unexpectedly at her isolated house. She can tell just by looking at him he doesn’t have a promising future. After calling her a charlatan, the man bashes Lowell’s head with one of her crystals, strangles her with her necklace, cuts out her tongue, and sticks a crystal shard into her rib cage. The m.o. reminds McAvoy of a case he handled 12 years earlier as a new copper that he thought was closed. Palm reader Eva-Jayne Puck was strangled in her flat by someone who drove something sharp into her torso. The Puck inquiry has a personal dimension for McAvoy, as her niece, who was seen fleeing the scene of the killing, is now his wife. Mark’s experiences as a Hull crime reporter pay off in his realistic portrayals of both cops and civilians, and he presents his lead’s inner life in a nuanced way that doesn’t interfere with the pace and suspense of the dramatic plotline. Ian Rankin fans will be pleased. (Dec.)