Human Remains is considerably darker than Into The Darkest Corner, and bears no resemblance to her debut novel; which is a pleasant and refreshing discovery in the world of books.
This time the protagonist is Annabel, a female Police Analyst who begins to notice an exceeding number of decomposing bodies being discovered in their homes. In each case, the deceased had slowly withdrawn from society before they died and wasn't missed.
The novel is told from the perspectives of Annabel and Colin (sociopath and bad guy) as well as short segments from the deceased themselves. This makes for a fascinating read that really kept me on the edge of my seat.
It's clear the author has studied the science of human decomposition and Neuro Linguistic Programming (no more for fear of spoilers) in order to write the villain's first person perspective, and it's done extremely well. Colin is a despicable man and his methods of suggestion and persuasion are downright scary.
Human Remains delicately raises the point that we no longer know our neighbours and aren't as friendly as we once were. The main reason for this is probably personal safety, but while reading Human Remains I couldn't help but reflect on these topics.
Human Remains is a real page-turner and a great crime novel with a difference.
My rating = ****
Carpe Librum!
P.S. Exciting news, I'll be interviewing the author Elizabeth Haynes here on Carpe Librum soon, so watch this space.
