Dark Truths

Dark Truths is a series police procedural by A. J. Cross. Released 4th Feb. 2021 by Black Thorn, it's 352 pages (print edition) and available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a very well written, taut, and engaging procedural with a nicely balanced cast of characters: detectives (one experienced and cynical and one completely green and full of enthusiasm), a forensic expert battling his own violent loss, and the whole apparatus which comes into play after violent death. The first death in the book is grisly; a stabbing and beheading which exposes yet another murder in the same location. 

The disparate plot threads wind ever more closely and the resolution is clever and very well engineered. The entire read is finely rendered and surprising. I didn't manage to figure everything out despite being given all the information along the way. I'm impressed and will be looking forward to more from this author.

Four stars. This would be a great selection for fans of the genre, possibly also book-clubs and library acquisition.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.