Tuesday, December 24, 2013

The Last Winter of Dani Lancing by P.D. Viner



The blurb:
Twenty years ago, college student Dani Lancing was kidnapped and brutally murdered. The killer was never found. Dani’s family never found peace. 

Thrust into an intense devastation that nearly destroys their marriage, Patty and Jim Lancing struggle to deal with their harrowing loss. Patty is fanatically obsessed with the cold case; consumed by every possible clue or suspect no matter how far-fetched, she goes to horrifying lengths to help clarify the past.  Meanwhile, Jim has become a shell of his former self, broken down and haunted—sometimes literally—by his young daughter’s death. Dani’s childhood sweetheart, Tom, handles his own grief every day on the job—he’s become a detective intent on solving murders of other young women, and hopes to one day close Dani’s case himself. 

Then everything changes when Tom finds a promising new lead. As lies and secrets are unearthed, the heartbreaking truth behind Dani’s murder is finally revealed.
The Last Winter of Dani Lancing is a shockingly disturbing and deeply powerful debut, and P.D. Viner immediately joins the ranks of Tana French, A. S. A. Harrison, and Gillian Flynn.


Review:
I love to lose myself in a good mystery and/or thriller and found a lovely, engrossing escape in P.D. Viner's The Last Winter of Dani Lancing.

We learn the details of Dani Lancing's life, disappearance, and brutal death from the point of view of the three people that knew her best and who have never recovered from her loss. Her parents have long since grown apart and divorced. Her father, Jim, is literally haunted by his daughter - and carries on conversations with Dani, whether real or imagined is uncertain. Her mother who had been a prize winning crime journalist has left her work and is obsessed with victim's rights and learning who hurt her daughter. Tom, her best friend and childhood companion, hasn't just become a cop, Tom leads a special elite group that concentrates on brutal crimes against women.

P.D. Viner shows us how each of these key persons knew Dani and what they knew of her life. The story of The Last Winter of Dani Lancing draws us in with the complicated plotting, memorable characters, and an engrossing story. If you enjoyed Gone Girl, AA Harrison's The Silent Wife, and Defending Jacob, you should pick up a copy of The Last Winter of Dani Lancing.


  • ISBN-10: 0804136823 - Hardcover $18.94
  • Publisher: Crown (October 8, 2013), 400 pages.
  • Review copy courtesy of the Amazon Vine Reviewers Program and the publisher.

About the Author:
P. D. Viner is an award-winning filmaker and playwright who has studied and worked in the United States, New Zealand, Russia and his native UK. He created the range of best-selling audiobooks for Shakespeare and the classics: The SmartPass Guides.
He lives in Brighton, UK with his American wife (the academic linguist, blogger and commentator Lynne Murphy)and his five year old daughter.
His debut,The Last Winter of Dani Lancing, is his first murder. The novella The Sad Man, is his second. He will kill again.