Aftermath by Peter Robinson

 

When a domestic occurrence is called in to the local police force, they arrive to find a woman, unconscious, with a head wound.  A male police officer and his rookie female partner go into the basement to clear the house and find horror.  A man comes out swinging a machete, cutting the male officer's throat and killing him.  The female manages to subdue him before her partner dies in her arms.  There is also a teenage girl staked out on a mattress, the missing teenager the police have been looking for.  

By the time Alan Banks arrives, both the husband and wife have been taken to the hospital.  The basement gives up more bodies and the police realize they have found the serial killer known as The Chameleon.  Five teenage girls have gone missing in the past months and Banks suspects they are the other bodies found.  Terence Payne is their villain but how did his wife, Lucy?  How could she not have known what was happening in her house?

As Banks and the team investigate, it turns out that Lucy has a dark past of her own.  Banks suspects she was involved but there is no evidence.  Can he discover all the secrets of that horror house?

This is the twelfth novel in the DCI Alan Banks series.  Banks is still involved, off and on, with Annie Cabbott, who is in the internal affairs department and investigating the actions of the policewoman who subdued Payne.  The psychologist Jenny Fuller is also in the picture and helping with the investigation.  Bank's dogged determination makes sure that the crime is fully investigated and that all the secrets are uncovered.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.