The doll's house

Carver keeps the tension high in the fifth entry to her crime-fiction series featuring husband-and-wife detectives Phil Brennan and Marina Esposito. The couple has moved from Colchester to Birmingham for a fresh start, but Brennan's first case with his new force is worse than anything he had come across with his former unit. A dead woman is found dressed like a doll, posed in a tea-party tableau. The investigation turns up a cache of pornographic photos and DVDs starring the victim, but it's hard to tell if she was a willing participant. In alternating chapters, readers get treated to the killer's point of view and his next potential victim alongside Brennan's investigation and Esposito's own troubles with her new university job. Carver packs a ton of details into her narrative, but the fast pace never slows. Fans of the series will know to expect the gruesome, gory scenes—new readers may need to be warned. But what a thrill ride they'll get, if they can stomach it. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

British author Carver's formulaic fifth Det. Insp. Phil Brennan novel (after The Black Road) finds Phil and his wife, Marina Esposito, a criminal psychologist, starting anew in Birmingham after enduring a horrific trauma eight months earlier. Phil, now leading a police team whose members don't know him, looks into an unusual murder. Inside an ordinary house, sitting at a table laid for dinner, is the body of a heavily made-up woman dressed in clothes that make her look like a doll. The investigation follows predictable lines, interspersed with tension between Phil and the man who hoped to have gotten his position, Det. Sgt. Ian Sperring. Meanwhile, Marina must contend with the unwanted attentions of Hugo Gwilym, a best-selling author of pop psychology books. Gwilym's efforts to seduce Marina complicate Phil's inquiry once his name surfaces in connection with the case. A key character is predictably put into peril toward the end, while the killer's identity comes as an anticlimax. (Dec.) [Page ]. Copyright 2014 PWxyz LLC

Detective Inspector Phil Brennan of the Major Incident Squad investigates after a murder victim is discovered as part of a human-sized dollhouse tableau.

Detective Inspector Phil Brennan of the Major Incident Squad investigates after a murder victim is discovered as part of a human-sized dollhouse tableau. By the author of Choked.

From the outside, the house was unremarkable. Just one of many on an ordinary, suburban estate. But inside was a different matter. With pink ribbons and pink walls, stuffed toy animals everywhere and a dining table laid out for a tea party, it was a doll's house.The doll was sitting at the table. Life size, with blonde, pigtailed hair and rosy red cheeks, dressed in her best pink party dress. Her finger and thumb curled round the handle of a fine china teacup.An adult woman. Covered in blood. Eviscerated. Dead.In all his years on the force, Detective Inspector Phil Brennan of the Major Incident Squad has never encountered a scene like it. As he investigates he uncovers more bizarre revelations and knows that he must act fast; the next murder has already been planned and the victim is closer to home that he realizes . . .

The new psychological thriller in Tania Carver's harrowing crime series—and one that delivers a surprise unlike any other in modern detective fiction.