Dark Flight

Dark Flight by Lin Anderson is the fourth novel in her crime series about forensic scientist, Rhona MacLeod. After arriving at a horrific murder site where an older woman and her daughter, Carole, had been murdered, the police realize that the daughter’s young mixed-race son, six year old Stephen Devlin has been taken by the murderer. The discovery of an African talisman and other evidence leads Rhona to believe that these murders were ritualistic and that Stephen is in great danger. As Stephen and Carole recently came to Scotland from Nigeria, Rhona and DS Michael McNab travel to that country to try and find the young boy.

I think this book has moved the series up a notch as this story was a little more complex that the previous show more three. The book follows the personal lives of Rhona and some of her cronies, and there are plenty of twists and turns along the way. The murdered women and abducted child eventually led to a story involving human trafficking and African black magic that was chilling and dark.

Although Rhona appears to be hesitant and overly cautious when it comes to her personal life, she is a highly trained and competent forensic scientist who is pretty fearless when it comes to her work. These books are an interesting mix of science and investigation and I will be continuing on with the series. show less

This book is the fourth in a series featuring Forensic Scientist Dr. Rhona MacLeod. This book begins with the discovery of a gruesome crime involving death of a young woman and her mother. The mother was killed by a blow to the head. Afterwards, she was apparently urinated on by the perpetrator. The younger woman, Carole Devlin, had been raped and then sexually mutilated. Moreover, there was a cross carved onto her back. Carole Devlin’s mixed-race six-year-old son Stephen was missing. Making matters worse, a “juju” was found on the scene, some small bones tied together in the shape of a cross.

The nature of the crime and the crime scene lead the murder team to suspect that it was all related somehow to sub-Saharan Africa, and more show more specifically Nigeria, where in fact Carole Devlin had lived. Female genital mutilation was practiced there, as well as juju or voodoo.

The crime scene manager is DS Michael McNab. After Rhona’s dad had died she had a 3-month affair with McNab. When she broke it off, he got angry. After numerous emails and phone calls that made Rhona feel threatened, she had told her DI, Bill Wilson, and thereafter the stalking ceased. But now McNab was back in Glasgow and in charge of their new case. This could make things awkward.

Meanwhile, Detective Inspector Bill Wilson is acting out of character. The team is worried; what they don’t know is that his beloved wife Margaret has discovered a lump in her breast, and they are anxiously awaiting results of a biopsy. And Sean is taking off for Dublin because his father is sick. All of Rhona’s usual support is missing, although right before he left, Sean told Rhona he loves her, something neither of them has ever said to each other before.

The suspicion that some sort of African rituals may be implicated in the deaths increases when a black body washes up that had also been mutilated in similar ways. Chrissy, Rhona’s scientific officer, is seeing Sam, who works in Sean’s bar, and who came from Nigeria. He helps shed some light on what they have found.

Rhona and McNab are sent to Nigeria to gather evidence, a place that had been dubbed “the white man’s graveyard.” The authority conferred on police in Scotland means nothing in West Africa, and soon Rhona is fighting for her life. And back in Glasgow, Chrissy and Bill face different kinds of threats. show less

DARK FLIGHT (Rhona Macleod #4) by Lin Anderson is an excellent read.
Well-plotted; complex characters: Glasgow at its best (and worst); detailed police procedural crime drama; international angle; gruesome criminal activity; excellent noir.
Don’t let the African juju bits scare you off. That is the main story line, but not the only story line worth mentioning.
Each title in the Rhona Macleod series gets better and better.

A six year old boy has vanished from the back yard of a house that is a murder scene. brutally murdered mother and grandmother. There's evidence of ritual murder linked with African juju and the bodies start to mount. Rhona is involved and she has to deal with the complicated relationship stuff started in the last book.

Interesting but a bit pedestrian.

In het Schotse Glasgow verdwijnt de zesjarige Stephen spoorloos nadat zijn moeder en oma op gruwelijke wijze zijn vermoord. Op de plaats van het misdrijf worden gekruiste mensenbotjes gevonden, een angstwekkende Afrikaanse fetisj zo blijkt. Forensisch specialist Rhona MacLeod en haar team nemen de zaak in onderzoek. Kort daarop wordt in de rivier Kelvin het lichaam van een jongetje gevonden, zonder hoofd, armen en benen. Onderzoek leert dat het niet de romp van Stephen is, en Rhona gelooft dat hij nog in leven is. Haar speurtocht naar hem brengt Rhona naar Nigeria. Goedgeschreven, spannende, chronologisch vertelde 'tartan noir' thriller, waarin Afrikaanse magie (juju) een rol speelt. Gebaseerd op een werkelijke gebeurtenis: in 2001 vond show more de Britse politie in de Theems de romp van een jongetje, slachtoffer van ritueel geweld. Dit is het vijfde, afzonderlijk te lezen deel in een serie rond forensisch specialist Rhona MacLeod, en het eerste dat in het Nederlands is vertaald. show less