Rent The Devil's Feather (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard)

Synopsis

With private security firms supplying bodyguards in every theatre of war, who will notice the emergence of a sexual psychopath from the ranks of the mercenaries? When five women are brutally murdered in Sierra Leone, Reuters correspondent, Connie Burns, questions the arrest of three rebel soldiers for the crimes. No one listens. In the wake of a vicious civil war which saw hundreds of thousands killed and displaced, the rape and murder of women is of little consequence. And who cares if child soldiers are beaten into a confession? With little to go on, except her witnessing of a savage attack on a prostitute, Connie believes a foreigners responsible. A man who claims to have been in the SAS and works as a bodyguard to a Lebanese diamond trader. She remembers him from Kinshasa when he was a mercenary for Laurent Kabilas regime, and she suspects he uses the chaos of war to act out sadistic fantasies against women. Two years later in Iraq, the consequences of her second attempt to expose him are devastating. Terrified, degraded and destroyed, she goes into hiding in England and tries to rebuild the person she was before being subjected to three days of conditioning in a Baghdad cellar. In the process, she strikes up a friendship with Jess Derbyshire, a loner whose reclusive nature has alienated her from the rest of the Dorset community where she lives. Seeing parallels between herself and Jess, Connie borrows from the other womans strength and makes the hazardous decision to attempt a third unmasking of a serial killer--knowing he will come looking for her.... The Devils Feather is nothing short of a masterpiece....Walters in fine, new form indeed. -- The Calgary Herald Her books just get better and better.' -- The Vancouver Sun Walters plot is expectantly layered with intrigue and compelling characters. -- Metro News a gripping and engaging tale....Walters keeps the pages flipping by, and leaves the reader hanging right to the very last word. Great job, and welcome back, Minette. -- The Record If you need more evidence that crime fiction is at its best when it deals with character and contemporary themes, then you need look no further than Minette Walters....The Devils Feather is about many things, including how easy it is to get away with crimes against women in war-torn countries. But it is also about control, weakness and strength, power and terrorism....Walters has more weapons in her arsenal, and there are several more twists to come before the ambiguous but satisfying ending.' -- The Globe and Mail

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