I listened to Death in a Lonely Place by Stig Abell on audiobook in April on various long journeys, having enjoyed the first book in the series, Death Under a Little Sky, last year (see my blog). This latest picks up with amateur detective Jake Jackson, as he fails again to escape from the world in a house cut off from roads and internet, when he is drawn this time into a child abduction case.

The policeman who got his help in his last case comes calling again, and the plot thickens when Jake’s partner is offered a job at the big house where strange goings-on are occurring. The couple end up there for a weekend, just as Jake is realising that there may be a connection to the mysterious underground society that he is investigating. This is called No Taboo, which does what it says on the tin, arranging anything illegal for the rich looking for kicks, including child abuse and murder. Thankfully Jake’s partner Livia has the good sense to get them out of there halfway through the weekend, but Jake is drawn in further still, threatening his life and his relationship with Livia and her daughter Diana.

Will No Taboo with its friends in high places get away with it yet again, or will Jake risk everything to bring them down? There’s only one way to find out.