Welcome to the world of DI Ridpath.
After a serious brush with melanoma that forced him to take nine months off work, he’s ready to return to his post – but his boss has decided to sweep him into the long grass. His crime? Being ill on the job.
Shunted into a new role as Coroner’s liaison with the police, his immediate boss promises that after three months the police force can find a more appropriate role for him, provided Ridpath can prove he’s up to the job. With plenty of medical appointments still vital to track his recovery, and burgeoning conflicts between Ridpath’s police boss and his boss at the Coroner’s office, this may prove less straightforward than Ridpath hopes…
What’s it about?
Ten years ago, Ridpath caught The Beast of Manchester. Or did he? When a serial killer seems to be replicating the Beast’s MO, even some police officers begin to question the Murder Investigation Team’s refusal to consider that they may have made a mistake.
Now, in his new role with the Coroner’s office, Ridpath has to supervise the exhumation of a previous victim of The Beast. This ought to be straightforward but to everyone’s shock, the coffin turns out to be empty. Where is Alice Seagrave? And why was her coffin buried without her?
What’s it like?
Fast paced. Full of twists and turns. Ultimately unconvincing.
I enjoyed listening to the audiobook of ‘Where the Truth Lies’ and liked DI Ridpath as a character. I anticipate that his integrity will make him a good protagonist for a series of crime thrillers, although the coroner, Mrs Challinor, is far too didactic in her moral conviction to be truly engaging. Conversely, his police boss, Charlie Whittaker, is far too arrogant and sexist to see where he might have made mistakes, and his treatment of the lone female police officer is deeply frustrating.
There is much violence against women, which I think was possibly easier to hear than it was to read, and which some readers may find disturbing. The opening chase scene, while highly exciting, also ends in violence which felt excessive to me (on the part of the character, not the writer!)
Final thoughts
Setting aside the concerns noted above, this was a highly thrilling and tense storyline that kept me gripped throughout, but the ending felt rushed and left a lot of issues unresolved. I would have liked to know more about how and why the killer acted as they did, but instead Lee throws the reader an (admittedly exciting) curveball and moves on, leaving me with a growing feeling that a lot of what took place was completely implausible.
I thought the balance between plot development and character development was good, as I thought there was the right amount of focus on Ridpath’s home life, but what feels like an exciting read in the moment doesn’t stand up to reflection afterwards.
I’d be happy to listen to another of Lee’s stories featuring DI Ridley, hoping that it’s equally gripping but finally more convincing.