Ritual

ISBN-13: 9780593056424
Publisher: Bantam Press
Published: 2008
410 pgs

Police diver, Phoebe "Flea" Marley found a human hand nine feet underwater just after lunch on a Tuesday in May. The Bristol police suspected it was an accident, or even a suicide attempt but the weird thing was, they could not find the body attaching to the severed hand which looked like it had been sawed. As if it was not strange enough, they found another hand of the same victim buried underneath the restaurant. And speculations was that the victim might still be alive when those hands were removed.

DI Jack Caffery, who first appeared in The Birdman, has been newly seconded to the Major Crime Investigation Unit and was requested to look into this case with the assistance of Flea Marley. Though they were of different profession and background, however both shared the loss and the misery of their loved ones. For Jack, it was his loss of his murdered brother Ewan, while Flea lost her parents during a diving accident. Flea often thought of her parents' death and through his father's best mate, Kaiser Nduka's information, she knew a certain drug - Ibogaine, a root bark used by the Bwiti believers might lead her to communicate with the dead.

When the report indicated that the severed hands belongs to a young heroin addict named Ian Mallows, a.k.a. Mossy, they began to dig deeper into the case and discovered that Mossy might have conned into selling something to get his fix. Soon Jack and Flea realized that there was something more sinister than the drugs and the belief of the African folklore might have started everything.

Ritual is the first of the Walking Man series. Although there is not much coverage of the Walking Man in this story, he played a subtle role of an ex-con whom offers some advice and some lessons about life to Jack on and off during the investigation. As much as I am delighted to see Jack Caffery again, I found Flea to be an interesting character. She is strong, impulsive but most of all, she has guts and would not allow anyone, or anything to intimidate her. I am thrilled to learn that she will continue to work with Jack in the next instalment, Skin.

Aside from the intrigue and suspense, Mo Hayder also added in some folklore and superstitions into this story which I find it refreshing yet disturbing. Although this is nothing new and she had done it before in Pig Island, the difference is there is a lot more humanity and psychological issue in this story. And the glimpse of the drug addicts' and the hookers' dark worlds reminds me the sad reality of life.

The setting and the atmosphere are fitting to the story; and of course I need to mention that Mo Hayder's writing is superb. I am awed that she always has a way of connecting the story bit by bit smoothly. It is no surprise that she is one of my favourite crime thriller authors.