Review of ‘Stark Warning’

Posted on November 15, 2015 Updated on October 16, 2015

A deranged killer is out to destroy Jessica Lee’s career. Lee, host of a popular British confessional TV talk show, receives a warning; ‘Every time you appear on screen someone will die.’ To show that he’s serious, he brutally murders a young woman, and then calls the police to tell them where to find the body.

DCI Sam Quinn, chief of Scotland Yard’s Celebrity Crime Squad, is immediately assigned the case. Quinn has a personal reason to take it seriously; his wife, a well-known actress, was killed by another celebrity stalker. Quinn has a problem, though. He’s in debt to a bookie who is determined to collect, even if he has to break Quinn’s legs to do it.

Stark Warning by James Raven is British mystery at its best. Raven gets inside the head of Quinn as he struggles with his own demons while trying to stop the killer before the corpses pile too high. The tension starts on a high note, and builds to a chilling conclusion that will leave you absolutely breathless. At the same time, he gives you a look inside the cutthroat world of network television. For readers on the U.S. side of the Atlantic, it’s nice to know that the quest for ratings is just as vicious in England as it is here.

If you like a good mystery, don’t miss this book. Five stars for a great book.