Happy Friday! Today I’m sharing my review of Parker Bilal’s The Divinities, the first in the Drake and Crane series.
My thanks to Caitriona Ward of Canongate Books for my copy of The Divinities (along with The Heights and The Trenches which I’ll be reading soon).
The Blurb
When two bodies are found brutally murdered at a building site in Battersea, DS Cal Drake is first to the scene. He sees an opportunity: to solve a high-profile case and to repair his reputation after a botched undercover operation almost ended his promising career in the Violent Crimes Unit.
Assigned to work with the forensic psychologist Dr Rayhana Crane, and on the hunt for an elusive killer, Drake’s investigations lead down the dark corridors of the past – to the Iraq war and the destruction both he and Crane witnessed there. With a community poised on the brink of violence, Crane and Drake must put their lives on the line to stop the killer before vengeance is unleashed.
What Did I Think?
Two bodies, posed together in a building site. What on earth! And what’s more, one is married to the building site owner!! Is this a crime of passion or something more sinister at play?
Enter DS Cal Drake. I rather liked Drake – he’s a man who’s willing to take the risk of upsetting those above. His methods are different, but always with the good intentions with solving the crime. But then he meets Dr Rayhana Crane. Now this relationship has been foisted on them both but Crane is more willing than Drake. I get the impression Drake is a stubborn soul! But what develops makes for interesting reading and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens with this relationship as the series goes on.
The Divinities is a fast paced twisty turny tense police procedural. This opening book of the series is a cracking read and this reader is looking forward to the next instalment! As I peeled back the layers of the investigation, I got led in to a dark world of an international activity causing present day crimes. Maybe it’s true, the past can come and bite you in the proverbial!
Who Is Parker Bilal
Parker Bilal is the pseudonym of Jamal Mahjoub, the critically acclaimed literary novelist. He is the author of the Makana Investigations series. The Divinities, the first in his Crane & Drake London crime series, was published in 2019. Born in London, he has lived in a number of places, including the UK, Denmark, Spain and, currently, the Netherlands.
A Knight's Reads 