The Twenty, by Sam Holland, is an engaging serial killer police procedural thriller set in the UK. I must confess up front that I am not a big fan of serial killer fiction. I am ambivalent about the voyeurism it encourages, the disingenuous way it seeks to entertain by “shocking” us with the gore we apparently all crave. In the case of The Twenty, however, Holland deserves credit for delivering a very effective and suspenseful mystery that also packs in quite a lot of character-driven narrative. She’s a pro.
The book starts out with the discovery of five bodies, four of which are buried in an abandoned construction site. Lead investor DCI Adam Bishop quickly realizes he’s got a major serial killer case on his hands because each body is accompanied by a spray-painted roman numeral, counting down from XVI to XII… this killer has a plan, and he’s apparently just getting started.
Adam’s team of investigators, in which Jamie is his number two, gets to work and quickly gets nowhere. They have five dead people who share no connections to one another or the site of their burials. No one saw anything. They hit dead end after dead end.
Meanwhile, Adam’s ex-wife, Dr. Romilly Cole, tries to keep her life on track despite horrifying phobias and flashbacks to some at-first unidentified trauma in her past. Her boyfriend, Phil, tries to be supportive, but as she becomes engrossed in solving the murders of the five victims—with whom she has no apparent connection—he becomes concerned, and then jealous as she reaches out to Adam.
This is one of those books where you can’t reveal too much of the plot, even the early part of the book, without getting into major spoiler territory. So, I won’t say too much more, except that Holland expertly weaves multiple story and backstory lines together to build a highly suspenseful narrative. You will definitely be left guessing, and you will probably enjoy that guessing.
The bodies pile up, including victims who are very close to the investigative team. Everyone feels the terrible pressure to solve this, but the case is utterly baffling. They’ve missed something huge, and when they figure out it, they realize it’s right in front of their faces, but they’re also almost too late…
Throughout, Holland reveals bits and pieces of certain characters’ histories, including Romilly’s, which is central to solving the case. She also intersperses old police reports of crimes that may be related to what’s going on, all to tantalize you with details you try to connect in your head.
Adam is ostensibly the main character of this book. He’s the lead investigator, so his point of view dominates the solving of the mystery. In terms of character, though, it’s more of Romilly’s book. Her relationship with Adam drives the emotional narrative. They both have a lot of trauma in their pasts. It’s what brought them together, but also what drove them apart. Want to know how it turns out? Better read the book…