[Review] Alexandra Benedict: 'The Beauty of Murder'

Usually, reviews are constructed the same way: a reviewer tells you a bit about the story, followed by his own thoughts and views. He then ends with a recommendation: to buy or not to bother.

[Buy the book here]

I want to start this review of Alexandra Benedict's 'The Beauty of Murder' with my recommendation: if you're reading a book, just put it aside, order 'The Beauty of Murder' and prepare yourself for a treat. This book is not your usual mystery, but a guided voyage through your own imagination. What sort of book is it, you might ask. Reviewers are not at all in agreement, but I would say this is a mystery that perfectly blends the supernatural and metaphysical. It reminds me somewhat of the splendidly written mysteries by Irish novelist John Connolly.

Jackamore Grass is a serial killer who is able to break the boundaries of time. But then Cambridge lecturer Stephen Killigan finds the body of a beauty queen who has been missing for a year. Only to discover that she's disappeared again without any trace of her ever being there. Quite unexpectedly, the police starts to question his sanity. Unknowingly, he is being drawn into the dark and twisted world of Jackamore Grass. Darkness, once gazed upon, can never be lost, as John Milton wrote.

A.K. Benedict writes with supreme confidence and is able to grip the reader's attention with perfect and elegant prose. So, by now you must have ordered your copy of 'The Beauty of Murder', because if you haven't, you've lost valuable time. Remember: time, once lost, cannot be regained. Unless, of course, your name is Jackamore Grass.

I'm already eagerly awaiting the publication of part two of this evolving series, provisionally entitled 'The Cabinet of Shadows'.