Perfect Remains - Helen Field

Reading Challenge Category: Book from Amazon Kindle Unlimited

Official Blurb:

On a remote Highland mountain, the body of Elaine Buxton is burning. All that will be left to identify the respected lawyer are her teeth and a fragment of clothing.
In the concealed back room of a house in Edinburgh, the real Elaine Buxton screams into the darkness…
Detective Inspector Luc Callanach has barely set foot in his new office when Elaine’s missing persons case is escalated to a murder investigation. Having left behind a promising career at Interpol, he’s eager to prove himself to his new team. But Edinburgh, he discovers, is a long way from Lyon, and Elaine’s killer has covered his tracks with meticulous care.
It’s not long before another successful woman is abducted from her doorstep, and Callanach finds himself in a race against the clock. Or so he believes … The real fate of the women will prove more twisted than he could have ever imagined.

My Thoughts:

I’ve only read one other Helen Fields book, and it was not a DI Callanach one, so I decided to risk trying this series from the beginning. I’m so glad I did, as I thoroughly enjoyed this.
This book is gruesomely detailed with the murders and the killer’s process. What he does to the women had me shuddering on more than one occasion.
We are privy to who the killer is almost from the start. It isn’t kept a secret from the reader, only a secret from the investigative team. I did like this different stance on a crime thriller like this, and I actually looked forward to his chapters to check in on the women and to see what other crazy was running through his mind.
I think Callanach could have done a better job in the investigation. He did keep getting distracted by Turner’s abandoned baby case and his own personal problems. That saying, I did think he was a fascinating character, and he had a lot of facets to his personality.
I’m looking forward to reading the other books in the series and seeing how his side of the story develops.
I’m definitely glad I started this series and gave it a try; it was more than worth it and one of the best crime novels I have read in a while. A five-star read.