The Wire In The Blood by Val McDermid

The Blurb On The Back:

Young girls are disappearing around the country, and there is nothing to connect them to one another, let alone the killer whose charming manner hides a warped and sick mind.

Nobody gets inside the messy heads of serial killers like Dr Tony Hill. Now heading up a National Profiling Task Force, he sets his team an exercise: they are given the details of missing teenagers and asked to discover whether there is a sinister link between any of the cases. Only one officer comes up with a concrete theory - a theory that is ridiculed by the group ... until one of their number is murdered and mutiliated.

For Tony HIll, the murder becomes a matter of personal revenge, and, joined by colleague Carol Jordan, he embarks on a campaign of psychological terrorism - a game where hunter and hunted can be all too easily reversed.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Whilst not without ambition, this is a disappointing book because McDermid stretches credibility a little too thinly, the will-they-won't-they thing between Hill and Jordan lacks the spark to be interesting and there's just too much sign-posting going on for the tension to kick in. Not one that I'd particularly recommend, unless you really want to see where The Wire In The Blood Series is going.

Stormfront by Jim Butcher

The Blurb On The Back:

Lost items found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment.

Harry Dresden is the best at what he does - and not just because he's the only one who does it. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal capabilities, they come to him for answers. Because the everday world is not as 'everyday' as it seems. It's actually full of strange and supernatural things - and most of them don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a - well, whatever it is the police are having trouble with this time.

There's just one problem. Business, to put it mildly, stinks. So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry's seeing dollar signs. But where there's black magic, there's a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry's name. And that's when things start to get ... interesting.

Magic. It can get a guy killed.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Entertaining and well paced, this is a good introduction to the world of Harry Dresden and it does its job in that I'm intrigued enough to want to read more. The supporting cast of characters really needs to be fleshed out more in order to counterbalance the strength of Dresden's own character and I usually prefer my mysteries to be less roadmapped but it's enjoyable enough for me to stick with it.