Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin . . .
Washington Poe has a story to tell.
And he needs you to listen.
You’ll hear how it started with the robber birds. Crows. Dozens of them. Enough for a murder . . .
He’ll tell you about a man who was tied to a tree and stoned to death, a man who had tattooed himself with a code so obscure, even the gifted analyst Tilly Bradshaw struggled to break it. He’ll tell you how the man’s murder was connected to a tragedy that happened fifteen years earlier when a young girl massacred her entire family.
And finally, he’ll tell you about the mercy chair. And why people would rather kill themselves than talk about it . . .
Poe hopes you’ve been paying attention. Because in this story, nothing is as it seems . . .
Book Info: 432 pages. Publisher: Constable. Publication Date: 6 June 2024
My Thoughts
WOW just WOW this is the 6th book in the wonderful Washington Poe series and they just keep getting better and better and this in my opinion is simply THE BEST so far.
So, a little backstory first. There are 6 books in the Washington Poe series starting with The Puppet Show (which was the winner of the CWA Gold Dagger in 2019), then Black Summer which The Sun called “A brutal and thrilling page-turner”, then book 3 is The Curator and Peter James said it was “dark, sharp and compelling”, followed by Dead Ground which was the winner of the prestigious CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award in 2022, and book 5 is The Botanist.
If you haven’t read any of the above the usual questions would be; can I read this as a standalone and the answer is YES. Should I read the series and the answer is YES. Would you recommend I start at Book 1 and read them in chronological order and the answer is YES OF COURSE WHAT KIND OF WEIRDO READS BOOKS OUT OF ORDER?
So I am going to review this without giving any spoilers away and in the hope that you know exactly who Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw are.
The Mercy Chair is very different to the 5 previous books in the series. For a start the beginning of the book has an unexpected opening chapter which left me feeling oddly discombobulated, but the end of that chapter had me reeling and utterly hooked unable to put my kindle down.
The Mercy Chair follows Poe and Tilly in another unusual and horrific murder investigation and it would be remiss of me to not warn you that there are themes of child abuse, cults, homophobia and extreme views running throughout the storyline which are really, really, really dark and very disturbing.
Despite the darkness, there is some light from the wonderful banter between Poe and Tilly and watching their friendship grow and deepen still makes me warm and tingly inside.
I don’t really want to say more, except read the series, pre-order this book and be blown away but the sheer brilliance of this crime series.
5 HUGE STARS
All my reviews for the previous 5 books can be found here:
The Puppet Show – published: 2018 – Read my review here
Black Summer – published: 2019 – Read my review here
The Curator – published: 2020 – Read my review here
Dead Ground – published: 2021 – Read my review here
The Botanist – published: 2022 – Read my review here
