Simon Beckett

Rare Book

Three years ago, David Hunter moved to rural Norfolk to escape his life in London, his gritty work in forensics, and a tragedy that nearly destroyed him. Working as a simple country doctor, seeing his lost wife and daughter only in his dreams, David struggles to remain uninvolved when the corpse of a woman is found in the woods, a macabre sign from her killer decorating her body. In one horrifying instant, the quiet summer countryside that had been David’s refuge has turned malevolent—and suddenly there is no place to hide.The village of Manham is tight-knit, far from the beaten path. As a newcomer, Dr. Hunter is immediately a suspect. Once an expert in analyzing human remains, he reluctantly joins the police investigation—and when another woman disappears, it soon becomes personal. Because this time she is someone David knows, someone who has managed to penetrate the icy barrier around his heart. With a killer’s bizarre and twisted methods screaming out to him, with a brooding countryside beset with suspicion, David can feel the darkness gathering around him. For as the clock ticks down on a young woman’s life, David must follow a macabre trail of clues—all the way to its final, horrifying conclusion.

Девід Гантер повертається до Антропологічного дослідницького центру в США, де він колись навчався, відомого як «Трупна ферма». Він сподівається, що ця подорож допоможе йому відточити навички судового антрополога та повернути впевненість у собі. Тому погоджується на пропозицію колишнього наставника долучитися до розслідування вбивства. Урешті-решт, Девід буде лише в ролі консультанта - що може піти не так? Але навіть Гантер не готовий до такої жорстокості. Зв’язане й піддане тортурам тіло розклалось до невпізнання. Знайдені на місці злочину відбитки пальців вказують на вбивцю, але Девід підозрює, що все не так, як здається на перший погляд. А потім знаходять друге тіло, і Гантер розуміє, що серійний убивця володіє вміннями, які йому до болю знайомі, - вміннями криміналіста…

It has been a good summer for forensics expert Dr David Hunter. His relationship is going well and he's in demand again as a police consultant. His life seems to be on an even keel. But not for long. The call comes from an old associate: a body has been found, and she’d like Hunter to take a look . . . St Jude’s Hospital now stands empty. Slowly rotting and silently awaiting demolition, the vast, oppressive building’s only visitors have been society’s outcasts, addicts and dealers. And it’s here that the partially mummified corpse has been discovered. Hunter is not sure how long the body has been hidden in the hospital’s cavernous loft, but he’s seen enough to know it’s a young woman. And that she was pregnant. As the remains are removed for closer examination, a floor collapses revealing a previously sealed off part of a ward. Bricked up inside this hidden chamber are three beds. Two of them are occupied . . .What other grisly secrets will St Jude’s reveal? The local community is alarmed and the police need answers. For David Hunter, what began as a challenging if straightforward case is about to become a twisted nightmare threatening him and those around him. Featuring his trademark authentic forensics, claustrophobic sense of place and nerve-shredding tension, Simon Beckett’s new thriller will leave you gasping.

' I took the skull from its evidence bag and gently set it on the stainless steel table. 'Tell me who you are...'Forensic anthropologist Dr David Hunter should be at home in London with the woman he loves. Instead, as a favour to a beleaguered colleague, he's on the remote Hebridean island of Runa to inspect a grisly discovery.Hunter has witnessed death in many guises, but even he is shocked by what he a body almost totally incinerated but for the feet and a single hand. Could it be a textbook case of spontaneous human combustion? The local police are certain it's an accidental death but Hunter is not convinced. Examining the scorched remains, he finds the evidence he feared. It's clear to him that this was no accident, this was murder.But as the small, isolated community considers the enormity of Hunter's findings, a catastrophic storm hits the island. The power goes down, communication with the mainland ceases, and then the killing begins in earnest...Exploding in a series of violent acts and shocking twists, this is the compelling new crime thriller from a brilliant British storyteller.

David Hunter war einst Englands berühmtester Rechtsmediziner. Nach dem Unfalltod seiner Frau und der gemeinsamen Tochter hat er London den Rücken gekehrt und sich in Manham, einem kleinen Dorf in der Grafschaft Devon, als einfacher Allgemeinmediziner niedergelassen. Weder sein Arbeitgeber, der alte Dr. Maitland, noch die Dorfbewohner wissen etwas von seiner Vergangenheit. Drei Jahre sind seitdem vergangen, als von zwei Jungen die Leiche der ortsansässigen Schriftstellerin Sally Palmer entdeckt wird. Die Ermordete wurde mit zwei angesteckten Schwanenflügeln aufgefunden. Auf Drängen des örtlichen Chief Inspector Mackenzie obduziert Hunter den Leichnam. Währenddessen verschwindet eine zweite Bewohnerin des Dorfes. Die Verdächtigungen der Einheimischen richten sich zuallererst gegen David Hunter, den in ihren Augen immer noch Fremden ...

'At first glance it could have been anything - a stone, a knotted root - until you looked more closely. Thrusting out of the wet earth, its bones visible through rags of flesh, was a decomposing hand...'It was eight years ago that they found the body buried on the moor. They were certain that this was one of psychotic rapist and multiple murderer Jerome Monk's teenage victims. Which left just two more bodies to find? But the ill-conceived search ended badly. And with Monk safely behind bars, the momentum faltered. For forensics expert David Hunter, and those others who were part of the recovery team, life moved on. And the dead were left undisturbed. Now, though, a nightmare scenario unfurls. Monk has escaped and seems to be targeting anyone involved in that original ill-fated operation. Lured back to the moors by a desperate call for help, Hunter begins to realise that neither the events unfolding now - nor those of eight years ago - are quite what they seem. And as the maniac's violent trail edges ever closer, the past is suddenly anything but dead and buried...

A MISSING CHILD Ten years ago, the disappearance of firearms police officer Jonah Colley's young son almost destroyed him. A GRUESOME DISCOVERY A plea for help from an old friend leads Jonah to Slaughter Quay, and the discovery of four bodies. Brutally attacked and left for dead, he is the only survivor. A SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH Under suspicion himself, he uncovers a network of secrets and lies about the people he thought he knew - forcing him to question what really happened all those years ago...

Some moments burn in the mind for ever. The landing is dark. Light comes from a window at the far end, enough to run by. Breath comes hard. From the stairs sound heavy footfalls in pursuit. The landing ends in a last doorway. There is no more running, only the need to hide...Imagine not knowing the father of your child. Not knowing his name. What he looks like. Or what sort of person he is. Although she is desperate for a baby, that is something that Kate Powell cannot accept. Single, independent, she likes to be in control of her own life - even if it has, somehow, become strangely shallow and meaningless. Then Kate meets a man who seems to be the answer to all her problems. But we all know appearances can be dangerously deceptive. And Kate should too. Soon her life is out her hands. And out of control...

Eigentlich hat David Hunter die Folgen des Überfalls vor einigen Jahren verarbeitet. Dachte er. Aber dann findet er vor seiner Haustür eine Reisetasche mit grauenvollem Inhalt, und die Vergangenheit meldet sich zurück … Eine David-Hunter-Geschichte, spannend und kurzweilig.

Book 3 of 6: Dr. David Hunter While visiting his mentor in Tennessee, a forensics expert matches wits with a killer of terrifying skill in this acclaimed crime series. To escape the violence that nearly killed him, forensic pathologist Dr. David Hunter leaves the United Kingdom for America, returning to the Body Farm—the Tennessee research center where he once trained. David is there to find out if he’s still up to the job of confronting death in all its strange and terrible forms. So when his former mentor asks David to accompany him to a crime scene, he agrees. But even David is unprepared for what awaits them in a remote cabin. The victim has been tortured, the body decomposed beyond recognition. The fingerprints seem to identify the killer, but David is unconvinced. When a second body is found, it’s clear that the killer is dangerously familiar with the intricacies of forensics. Pushed deep into the heart of a terrifying manhunt, David begins to wonder if they’re on the trail of a maniac who cannot be stopped.

Doktor David Hunter skłania zmarłych do zwierzeń w literackich thrillerach, które poruszają najgłębsze emocje milionów czytelników. Po raz pierwszy publikowane opowiadanie z doktorem Hunterem.

"The dead didn't frighten me. It was the living that gave me nightmares." An atmospheric and utterly gripping mystery set in the shadows of the Welsh mountains, that will chill the reader to their very bones Driving back through Wales in a fierce winter storm, forensic anthropologist David Hunter is forced to seek shelter at a remote village in the Eryri mountains. But a one-night stop-over becomes something very different after a gruesome discovery in depths of the local forest. With communications down and the only road washed out by the storm, Hunter is unsure who - if anyone - he can trust. And as long-buried secrets begin to emerge, he's knows that, whatever dark past the isolated community might be hiding, there's no one he can call on for help. This time he's on his own. Forensic anthropologist David Hunter is back in this pulse-pounding thriller that explores the wildness and danger of rural life and the intensity of small-town claustrophobia.

Hunter is back! Sein fünfter Fall führt Dr. David Hunter in die Backwaters, ein unwirtliches Mündungsgebiet in Essex, wo die Grenzen zwischen Land und Wasser verschwimmen. Aber die wahren Gefahren lauern nicht in der Tiefe, sondern dort, wo er sie am wenigsten erwartet. Seit über einem Monat ist der 31-jährige Leo Villiers spurlos verschwunden. Als an einer Flussmündung zwischen Seetang und Schlamm eine stark verweste Männerleiche gefunden wird, geht die Polizei davon aus, Leo gefunden zu haben. Der Spross der einflussreichsten Familie der Gegend soll eine Affäre mit einer verheirateten Frau gehabt haben, die ebenfalls als vermisst gilt: Leo steht im Verdacht, Emma Darby und schließlich sich selbst umgebracht zu haben. Doch David Hunter kommen Zweifel an der Identität des Toten. Denn tags darauf treibt ein einzelner Fuß im Wasser, und der gehört definitiv zu einer anderen Leiche. Für die Zeit seines Aufenthalts kommt David Hunter in einem abgeschiedenen Bootshaus unter. Es gehört Andrew Trask, dessen Familie ihm mit unverholener Feindseligkeit begegnet. Aber sie scheinen nicht die einzigen im Ort zu sein, die etwas zu verbergen haben. Und noch ehe der forensische Anthropologe das Rätsel um den unbekannten Toten lösen kann, fordert die erbarmungslose Wasserlandschaft erneut ihren Tribut…

Ein ganz normaler Tag Detective Chief Superintendent Nichols ist sich ganz sicher: Der Obdachlose war schuld! Er hatte die alte Frau um Geld angebettelt und dann erschlagen. Und das am Heiligabend. Auf Anraten der Pathologin zieht er David Hunter zu Rate. Widerwillig. Als ob er geahnt hätte, dass der ihm das Weihnachtsfest verderben würde … Schneefall In den Schottischen Highlands wird ein Serienmörder gejagt. Dann findet man zwei Leichen im Schnee. Und niemand hört gerne, was der forensische Anthropologe dazu sagt … Zwei Weihnachtskrimis mit David Hunter.