Shifting Skin (Detective Jon Spicer Thrillers) [Paperback]

Chris Simms (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 28, 2008 | Series: Detective Jon Spicer Thrillers

"The Butcher of Belle Vue" has struck again. Like the first two victims, the third has been partially skinned, her muscles, tendons, and ligaments exposed to view. But this time her face has also been removed. Jon Spicer and his new partner, Rick Saville, are on the investigating team. The case is waiting for its first breakthrough when a woman approaches Jon insisting that she heard the Butcher claim his third victim in the room of a run-down hotel in Belle Vue. All she has to back up her story is a business card found in the room from a local escort agency with a name scribbled on the back. Jon's investigation takes him into the world of Manchester's escort agencies and the unscrupulous cosmetic surgery industry, and brings him face-to-face with the human propensity for violence.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An all-too-familiar serial-killer plot drives British author Simms's underwhelming second police procedural to feature Det. Insp. Jon Spicer (after Killing the Beasts). The "Butcher of Belle Vue" takes his name from the Manchester neighborhood where he dumps his female victims' flayed corpses. Spicer, who's on tenterhooks with his boss, Detective Chief Inspector McCloughlin, after his maverick efforts to catch the Chewing Gum Killer in Killing the Beasts, suspects that his new partner, Rick Saville, may be a plant to get the goods on him. That concern doesn't prevent Spicer from bending the rules as he sees fit, like obtaining an unauthorized DNA sample from a suspect. Not many readers will be shocked at the revelation of the Butcher's true identity. A competent writer, Simms needs to imbue his books with more depth and imagination if he's to stand out in the crowded serial killer subgenre.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

'Hmmm. Nice...It's a grim, dark and seedy picture painted here of the North, but it's probably one you could view anywhere. ****' LADSMAG 'Shifting Skin has all the ingredients- blood, excitement, speed, mystery and realistis, likeable characters - for another bestseller from a writer who is fast making his mark as a top talent in the genre.' PETERBOROUGH EVENING TELEGRAPH 'A highly entertaining read. I wouldn't be surprised to see it made into a TV series.' COVENTRY EVENING TELEGRAPH --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Orion Publishing; New Ed edition (May 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 075288168X
• ISBN-13: 978-0752881683
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 5.2 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,686,957 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Chris Simms has worked in airports, nightclubs, post offices and telesales centres. Along with nominations for Crime Writer's Association Daggers and the Theakston's Crime Novel of the Year award, Chris has been selected by Waterstone's as one of their '25 authors for the future'.

Chris says he is drawn to books that give insights into unusual minds. The twisted desires of Frederick in John Fowles', The Collector, the tormented thoughts of Scobie in Graham Greene's Heart of the Matter, the violent urges of Francie in Patrick McCabe's Butcher Boy are all are books Chris states had an influence in shaping him as a writer. The idea for his debut novel, Outside the White Lines, came to him in the early hours of the morning while broken down on the hard shoulder of the M40.

His series of DI Spicer novels - psychological thrillers set very firmly in Manchester - follow the police detective's fortunes as he pursues mad, bad and deadly individuals through the city's ever-changing landscape.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An exciting, realistic story with good characters, October 26, 2008

By 

Helen Simpson (Leeds, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shifting Skin (Detective Jon Spicer Thrillers) (Paperback)

There was a lot to like in this book.

D.I. Jon Spicer who features both in this book and 'Killing The Beasts' is a really likable, flawed character for a start. In this book we see his relationship develop with his partner Rick Saville, whom he suspects is a 'plant' in order for his boss, McCoughlin to keep an eye on him.

The investigation is interesting, from the partially skinned female bodies that keep turning up to the disappearance of salesman who also falls under suspicion. What I like about all of Simms writing is how well informed and topical it is and this novel is no exception.

Set in Manchester (England) Spicer and Saville's investigations take them to tattoo parlours, gay bars, a cosmetic surgery clinic and an escort agency as well as a seedy hotel where there's a possible witness to a murder that there isn't a corpse for.

Simms is a talented author and his books would make great TV dramas.