Walking With Ghosts by John Baker is his fourth book featuring PI Sam Turner and his crew. In this one, most of them are dealing with serious issues and massive changes that are coming to their lives. Sam is living through his wife Dora’s last days as she succumbs to cancer, Marie is learning how to move on after her husband’s death and has met a man, while Geordie is facing parenthood. At the same time they have also been hired by an insurance company to look into the death of India Blake who was apparently kidnapped, held for ransom and then never returned. Originally the police figured she and her lover scammed her husband and disappeared, that is, until her body turned up 3 months later.

Although the police suspected the husband, Edward, was involved, it couldn’t be proven and now that he is claiming the insurance, Sam and his group have been asked to look into this case one more time before payment is made.

I have enjoyed each one of the Sam Turner books and this one is no exception. The characters are endearing, the relationships between them ring true. The story grabbed me right from the start and the interludes where the characters personal lives were delved into was poignant and gave a real sense of depth to the book. ( )

As crime thrillers go John Baker's 'Walking with Ghosts' is a very good one. Baker's private eye Sam Turner watching over his dying wife Dora is hired by an insurance company to investigate the death of a corrupt and well known right wing politician Edward Blake. Blake stands to collect a large sum of money and the insurance company wants to be sure that they're not paying out money to a husband who may have murdered her--or played a part in her murder. Turner who is spending as much time as possible with Dora turns the job over to his assistants Marie and Geordie who begin investigating Blake and his sordid activities. Blake without a doubt is a crook but linking him to murder eventually leads nowhere. Nonetheless the investigation starts turning over leads to a serial killer who has been plaguing the local community for some time--a link that also goes back into Dora's own past--a disastrous marriage of spousal abuse and the suicide of her former husband. Turner finds himself drawn more and more into the case but the killer aware that the investigation is closing in on him is now tracking them as well.

The book starts off a little slowly but about a third of the way in--picks up steam and never lets up until the conclusion. Though the characters (including the killer) are all laid out--there are enough twists and turns to keep it interesting. There's an almost gloomy, gothic feel to his York area canvas--particularly the killer's own lair. A nice pace, an intriguing plot and an inevitable conclusion (could hardly help that--once the investigation got going the killer was increasingly on the defensive) and not everything ends happily. Goes good with a heavy, dark beer. Recommended. ( )

There are several reviews of Walking with Ghosts on my blog.

An unusual thriller, kept me interested and turning pages well into the night. ( )