Throwback Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Renee at It’s Book Talk. Throwback Thursday was designed as an opportunity to share old favorites as well as older books in our TBR. As I started reviewing on Goodreads long before I started my blog, it seemed a great way of sharing my earlier reviews (which I hope have improved since the early days).

So this week I’m revisiting Sorrow Bound by David Mark reviewed in Mar 2014

Philippa Longman will do anything for her family.

Roisin McAvoy will do anything for her friends.

DS Aector McAvoy will do anything for his wife.

Yet each has an unknown enemy – one that will do anything to destroy them.

My Review

When David Mark’s debut thriller The Dark Winter was published I was keen to read it, mainly I will admit because it was set in Hull. As an exiled Hullensian I was curious to see how he’d portrayed the place. However the location became an incidental as I was taken in by the plot and the character of DS McAvoy. I enjoyed this book and was looking forward to reading future releases.

When I got the opportunity to review his third novel Sorrow Bound, I was delighted to be reacquainted with Aector McAvoy, (not to mention somewhat taken aback to discover I’d somehow managed to miss Original Sin – No 2 in the series).

As with the first book I was not disappointed, in fact I think in the intervening period David Mark has been honing his writing skills as this I felt was even better. What I enjoyed about this book was the clever way he switches the action between the police procedural aspects of searching for a serial killer, to the menacing grooming and blackmailing of one of the female officers. The two strands have a major impact on Aector and his family as the tension is gradually ratcheted up. The plot had twists and turns that really did keep me turning the pages, as unlike some novels the who and why is not apparent until the reveal. It is gritty and dark and the murders are not for the faint-hearted, but thankfully they are not too gratuitously described.

In addition to the clever plotting I really like the characterisation. It is not just Aector that is well drawn but also his wife and his police colleagues. His boss Trish Pharoah in particular, brings some light relief into darkness and reminds me of Stuart McBride’s DI Steele (in the Logan McRae series) albeit with a few more manners and a better awareness of political correctness.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can’t wait for the next instalment. At least in the meantime I can catch up with Original Sin without having to worry about what happens.