The Forest by Mark Dawson is Book 6 in An Atticus Priest Mystery.
If you haven’t “met” Atticus Priest, from his introduction in Book 1 The House in the Woods to the present, you’ve been deprived of reading one of literature’s most intriguing contemporary characters — and definitely in my Top 5 favorites all-time. Unique and somewhat hard to describe, the main things the reader learns about him quite quickly are that he’s brilliant, insightful, observant of the tiniest detail(s), blunt, sometimes awkward, and will be impatient with and intolerant of those who think they know more than they do.
Having resigned from the police force (British) before the powers-that-be could fire him for not passing his drug test, he’s made a name for himself by becoming a private investigator. His life was a mess in the beginning, but because of his feelings for “Mack” (Mackenzie Jones), now the DCI, he straightened out most of his bad habits and his business is literally booming, having hired an assistant “Jez,” who does most of the IT work and feels honored to learn from Atticus.
Mack and Atticus’ relationship survived her divorce and escalated to the point where the once intensely private Atticus and his faithful dog are moving in with Mack.
Mack is called out to a brutal murder in the forest which she later learns is reminiscent of two previous murders in the same forest 20 years prior. The convicted killer of those previous murders first insisted he hadn’t done it in spite of actually killing another man prior to those two in a different way. That killer, Ezra Crowley, has been in the Broadmoor (a mental institution) for all those years. Now with this identical style of murder as those of the former two men, something is definitely off and goes further in a strange direction when DCI Mack learns that Ezra Crowley wants to talk to Atticus Priest about the killing, insisting he has information that can help the police find the killer but only wants to talk to Atticus.
Ezra Crowley is written well, presented with superior intelligence and all that goes with that, a form of Atticus without the ability to care for or have empathy for anyone. Not only is his intelligence intimidating, his physical form is huge and daunting. He manipulates everyone and takes great pleasure in flaunting his impressive mental skills.
In this story, there are twists with new characters, Ezra’s female lawyer, a young unimpressive DI, and the reader finally gets to meet the mess who is Atticus’ father. The story winds around various and unusual circumstances that led up to that murder with unexpected help from unexpected places.
The Forest is a good addition to the series, a longer story that takes the time to explore Atticus and his history a little deeper while also showing him firsthand the unusual position of being the object of intimidation.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS SERIES.
Into the Fire 