Oswald Bennet is a forensic psychologist with a deep understanding of psychopaths – after all, his parents are both in prison for life for trying to kill each other. Haunted by his past, the last thing he needs is to be recruited to investigate an actual case. But when DI Anderson of the Portland Police (the Postland in Maine, not Oregon) asks for his advice on a bizarre crime scene, any stability that he currently has is about to be put in peril – along with his actual life, obviously.

A devoted mother is found dead in her basement, decapitated by a home-made guillotine, and the police have ruled it as a suicide. Bennet recognises it straight away as the work of a highly organised predator, and soon a murder investigation is underway. But when a second headless body is found, it seems as if the predator is escalating events. Or has this all been planned for a long, long time…

This review is for the wonderful Professor Mrs Puzzle Doctor. A while ago, during one of our many conversations about Gladiators, she told me that Mark Griffin, the man formerly known as Trojan, her favourite-est ever Gladiator, has written a number of well-received thrillers. So when I saw this on NetGalley as the start of a new series, I thought I’d give it a go.

What is interesting is how seriously the psychological aspects are taken here. It’s clear that the author has researched the area thoroughly because Bennet, an academic, comes across as an academic, taking time to educate his police “partner” on what and what not to expect. Bennet is an interesting lead, as is Anderson – she has less page time, but still garners sufficient depth for some of the final scenes to carry some weight.

The pacing is a little slow for the first half of the book. It does beggar belief, given the number of really obvious things Bennet points out that indicate murder, that it was ever considered a suicide, but when the second death eventually occurs, the pacing picks up and accelerates towards the impressive end. It also plays with a very effective misdirect towards the end, but the actual reveal is still very impressive.

All in all, a very interesting serial killer book, far more interesting in the psychology rather than the gore and never relying on access to the prurient thoughts of the killer. Definitely a series that I’ll be keeping an eye on in the future.

The Head Collector is out today in ebook and physical form from Boldwood Books – many thanks for the review e-copy.