The Binding Room: A Novel (An Inspector Anjelica Henley Thriller, 2)

A pastor, dead in his own church, was stabbed forty-eight times. A young man, tortured to the brink of death, was found in an upstairs room. The officer investigating these crimes, DI Anjelica Henley from the Metropolitan Police Serial Crime Unit, soon identifies several suspects in the murder of Pastor Annan, or The Prophet, as he calls himself – women whom he has sexually misused and the cheated-on wife. The discovery of a second torture victim, this one female and long dead, and the presence of a Bible and other religious symbols (also found beside the first) raise the ugly possibility of a serial exorcist. Is the pastor behind these efforts to cast out the devil? If so, who killed him and why? Or are his stabbing and the purging of the other two victims unrelated? While dealing with her own troubled marriage, Henley painstakingly draws on CCTV footage, interviews, DNA evidence, and autopsy results to unwrap the tangled mix of motives and suspects. With an intriguing premise, careful, step-by-step detailing of the investigation, and some surprises along the way, The Binding Room is an excellent choice for fans of police procedurals.