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Candice Fox, Candice Fox: Crimson Lake (2017, Forge) 4 stars

Review of 'Crimson Lake' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

A good series opener, telling the story of a convicted murderer and a man charged as a child rapist, who loses everything, combining to try and solve the disappearance of a local author in Cairns Australia. Lots of interesting story lines and more mysteries than you can shake a pen at!

Told from the point of view of Ted Conkaffey, Sydney cop and imprisoned for raping a child. He was the last one witnessed near her and thus loses everything - wife, fellow cops, everything. So he heads to a small place near Crimson Lake hoping to lose his past after he gets let out when the charges are dropped, but everyone still thinks he is guilty. He teams up with a woman recently out of jail as a convicted murderer, so yeah, they make quite the team. And each of them works on the other's case while working on the disappearance.

So yeah, lots of strands going on here, but held together well. It does seem like everyone abandoned Ted awfully fast for some pretty circumstantial evidence and the cops settling on the first suspect with both feet syndrome is strong. But otherwise the story moves at a fast clip and everything hangs together well. His partner, Amanda, is a bit of a Sherlock Holmes savant, with a real quirky streak, so she is a fun character too. Looking forward to seeing where this pair goes.