Scan barcode
A review by bethaniekay
The Tattoo Thief by Alison Belsham
4.0
This book sat on my shelf for about 2 years, and now I'm sad about that because I actually really liked it.
The premise of the book is definitely unusual, which is refreshing since it seems there aren't many original ideas anymore. I've been to Brighton, and I have a tattoo, so these were also areas that interested me in the story. Brighton itself is almost one of the characters, and I enjoyed picturing some of the locations mentioned in the story. The insight into the world of tattooing was also compelling, in terms of the professionalism of the artists, the bond shared among fellow artists, and prejudices they face from others 'outside' their world.
The author does a good job setting up the grisly crimes (and beware, some of the details may be a bit gory for some readers), and the idea that a serial killer would 'collect tattoos' is for sure unusual. The story is told from a few different POVs, notably tattooist Marni Mullins and DI Sullivan. I thought adding italicized chapters from the perspective of the killer was brilliant, and getting insight into their view that the murders were a form of artwork was intriguing. I didn't care for the chapters from Rory's perspective, as he was a whiny undermining twat and didn't serve any purpose other than to make Sullivan's life/job harder. There were a few red herrings and plot twists, and in the end I admit I didn't see it coming when I learned who was actually responsible.
There were a couple negative points -- namely that the ending was rushed, as I really wanted to know more about WHY the killer/s did what they did, more about the conversation Sullivan had in the interrogation of the accomplice, and more about Marni's past crime in terms of why it made her dislike/mistrust the police so much.
Despite those factors, though, I really enjoyed this book and was happy to learn there are others in this same 'series', which I'll be reading next.
The premise of the book is definitely unusual, which is refreshing since it seems there aren't many original ideas anymore. I've been to Brighton, and I have a tattoo, so these were also areas that interested me in the story. Brighton itself is almost one of the characters, and I enjoyed picturing some of the locations mentioned in the story. The insight into the world of tattooing was also compelling, in terms of the professionalism of the artists, the bond shared among fellow artists, and prejudices they face from others 'outside' their world.
The author does a good job setting up the grisly crimes (and beware, some of the details may be a bit gory for some readers), and the idea that a serial killer would 'collect tattoos' is for sure unusual. The story is told from a few different POVs, notably tattooist Marni Mullins and DI Sullivan. I thought adding italicized chapters from the perspective of the killer was brilliant, and getting insight into their view that the murders were a form of artwork was intriguing. I didn't care for the chapters from Rory's perspective, as he was a whiny undermining twat and didn't serve any purpose other than to make Sullivan's life/job harder. There were a few red herrings and plot twists, and in the end I admit I didn't see it coming when I learned who was actually responsible.
There were a couple negative points -- namely that the ending was rushed, as I really wanted to know more about WHY the killer/s did what they did, more about the conversation Sullivan had in the interrogation of the accomplice, and more about Marni's past crime in terms of why it made her dislike/mistrust the police so much.
Despite those factors, though, I really enjoyed this book and was happy to learn there are others in this same 'series', which I'll be reading next.