LABYRINTH OF DOLLS BY CRAIG WALLWORK

If you’re looking for an exciting and well-written thriller series, the Tom Nolan books provide just that. Plus, you may need him to protect you, too, because there are an awful lot of bad types out there….

For those of you who missed it, Yorkshire writer Craig Wallwork’s Bad People, was a fantastic and unexpected welcome to the thriller genre at the beginning of the year. Not one to rest on his laurels, Labyrinth of Dolls takes the horrors of the first book, ramps them up a few gears and means that you’ve never looked at dolls the same way since you saw Child’s Play.
 
LOTD picks up following Bad People, lots of the same characters return and while you can probably get by not knowing the full backstory, you’d be doing a disservice to yourself and this novel by doing so. Tom Nolan returns, the aging detective who rather than relishes his previous successes, carries the scars and the trauma from what he’s seen across his career. It’s one of the strengths of the novel, that Nolan is relatable, like a hero returning from war. He’s brilliant in his deductions, always slightly ahead of the reader but never in a way that feels forced, or that he’s some Sherlock Holmes who can figure it all out before it starts. He is equally flawed and relies on other people in the force, intellectually and emotionally – which also means that side characters and love interests are more developed, more relatable and not just relegated for romance and exposition.
 
The novel ramps up the gore, even when you know a death is coming, you’ll be quick to bite your lip or have to put the novel down. The deaths are detailed and bloody, making you wonder if Wallwork is on some sort of watch list. They don’t let up either, the blood spills and the twists keep turning till the end of the novel. By the final chapter you’ll not be sure who to trust, who is good, who is safe.
 
The whole novel is kept secure by how strong of a writer Wallwork is. His prose is always tight, nothing feels unnecessary and the descriptions and general tone he gives the novel is so confident that it feels like you’re watching it all unfold in front of you, rather than ever feeling like you’re doing the heavy lifting filling in the blanks. This is further cemented by how unpredictable the novel is, but never at the expense of feeling cheap or cheated, instead it just shows that the author is always thinking ahead, and that the detective may be better than we previously thought.
 
Readers will have to suspend disbelief, especially part way through LOTD, not that it ever feels outlandish but that Yorkshire seems to have the highest rate of creative serial killers around. The novel does address this, and it wouldn’t be as exciting a novel if it wasn’t out there, but there is the element that you think the criminal conspiracy that unfolds would be bigger news.
 
Labyrinth of the Dolls proves that the excitement and brilliance of Bad People wasn’t a one off. Though it’s hard to rank them so close to reading them together, no matter which one wins, the other isn’t trailing far behind. If you’re looking for an exciting and well-written thriller series, the Tom Nolan books provide just that. Plus, you may need him to protect you, too, because there are an awful lot of bad types out there….

EVIL HAS A NEW FACE
It's been one year since the horrific murders of Stormer Hill, and the events of that time continue to resonate with Detective Constable Tom Nolan. In an attempt to find the second killer, known only as the Ragman, Nolan joins West Yorkshire's Murder Investigation Team.

Partnered with Jennifer Morrison, a straight-talking detective with her eye on promotion, the two officers are assigned to track down a new killer whose victims are all found dressed like human dolls. As the investigation progresses, Nolan becomes an intricate piece in the killer's grand vision that puts his life in danger.

But with the body count rising daily and the pressure to find who the media is labelling the Doll Maker increasing, Nolan discovers more than just a series of grisly murders...

Within the human dolls, the answers he has sought for nearly a year may finally be found.

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