Sometimes, an author is obliged to change pace when their usual territory is becoming over-farmed ? not least by themselves. And at first glance, The Devil?s Feather would appear to represent a radical new direction for Minette Walters. But -- wait a minute -- why would Walters need to dip into a new genre of novel? After all, she is now unquestionably in the upper echelons of British crime queens, quite as successful as P D James and Ruth Rendell at mining darker psychological territory, with (in her case) a strong sociological underpinning. Such books as Acid Row and Fox Evil have been bitter pictures of Britain as much as they have been crime novels. The Devil?s Feather is more ambitious than any of her preceding work, notably in the massive international canvas (including a war-torn country) that is the novel's backdrop.

Five women have been savagely killed in the Sierra Leone conflict. Connie Burns is a correspondent for Reuters who asks awkward questions about the arrest of three young soldiers accused of the crime. Their forced confessions (after savage beatings) count for little in the middle of the Civil War, and Connie's theory -- that the murders were committed by a foreigner indulging his own sanguinary fantasies in the middle of a war -- proves to be very dangerous for her. Her attempts to track the killer down bring catastrophe on her own head, and she is forced to escape, going to ground in Dorset and dealing with the psychic scars she has been left with. It is, of course, inevitable that she will be tracked down even in the safety of the English countryside by her implacable opponent.

As the foregoing conveys, this is very different territory from that which Walters has made her own, but she proves equally adept at the International blockbuster thriller as at any of her more tightly focused British novels. It goes without saying that the character portrayal (notably of the terrified Connie) is an on-the-nail as ever, and the considerable tension engendered by The Devil?s Feather may glean a whole new legion of readers for Walters. --Barry Forshaw

'once the psycho comes knocking Walters...excels, creating a palpable sense of terror'

'Minette Walters knows how to make flesh creep with a well-turned
phrase...a gripping page-turner'

'A new addition to Minette Walters' output of psychological
thrillers - most are impossible to put down'

'There are plenty of thrills and tense moments in Minette Walter's
The Devil's Feather...taut, tremendous thriller.'

'a disturbing, but engrossing, psychological thriller'

..a tour de force..The combination of fast-moving thriller and acute exploration of the psychotic mind makes this a thriller.

Have you ever wanted to bury a secret so deeply that no one will find out about it? With private security firms supplying bodyguards in every theatre of war, who will notice the emergence of a sexual psychopath from the ranks of the mercenaries? Reuters correspondent Connie Burns is no stranger to the world's troublespots, including the vicious civil unrest in Sierra Leone and the war in Iraq. But as she begins to suspect that a foreigner is using the chaos of war to act out sadistic fantasies against women, her efforts to bring him to justice leave her devastated. Degraded and terrified, she goes into hiding in England and strikes up a friendship with Jess Derbyshire, a loner whose reclusive nature may well be masking secrets of her own. Connie draws from the other woman's strength and makes the hazardous decision to attempt a third unmasking of a serial killer...Knowing he will come looking for her...

2008-08-11 Dual Duel

Like other Minette Walters books, you get to a certain stage and you're hooked; it becomes impossible to put it down because you have to finish it.

With "The Devil's Feather" this stage comes around a third of the way through, once you're used to the shifting style of narrative, email and computer files. The reader begins to wonder how Connie is going to cope with her life after kidnap, not what will happen when the kidnapper turns up - that comes later.

The appearance of Jess and the revelation of her own tortured psyche (old fashioned term, but nonetheless apt here) are fascinating. Throughout, it is as much the working of minds that becomes intriguing as the tension wound up in the plot.

Other characters seem to be familiar: local doctor, concerned parents, absent helpless lover. It's Christie territory with a contemporary twist.

The sub-plot hooks the reader because of its cosiness. One feels as if on familiar territory, this is how British thrillers pan out: countryside setting, recognisable types, class-consciousness. That hook and the Iraq tie-in become irresistible. A thriller set with a background we fully recognise - a clever piece of popular writing.