It is a ferociously stormy night on the Island when fifteen year old Suzie, as she hurries to board her uncle's boat after a secret meeting with her boyfriend, is brutally stabbed to death. She is discovered by locals, held in the blood-smeared arms of Olly Matken, a schizophrenic teenager who grew up holidaying on the Island with Suzie's family. 'I didn't hurt her!' he says. 'All I did was protect her from the devil.' When psychologist Karen Taylor sees DCI Charlie Trench's name flash up on her mobile phone, she knows that she ought to ignore the call, but curiosity and, although she won't admit it, a dangerous attraction to the brooding detective, send her headlong into a deeply troubling case. Karen must decide; is Olly capable of murder? His psychologist doesn't think so, but the boy's own father seems to want to see his son charged. The only way to prove his innocence is to find out the identity of Olly's devil . . . so long as Karen can keep the demons from her own past at bay too.
Industry Reviews
'Face of the Devil then, is well crafted and compassionate. It draws on themes of family discord, notions of responsibility both moral and legal, and uses misdirection with great aplomb; it is a deft piece of work from a thoroughly talented writer' BookGeeks.co.uk http://www.bookgeeks.co.uk/2011/06/07/face-of-the-devil-by-n-j-cooper/ 'Critics generally line up with a series of encomiums for the talented Cooper, and it must rankle for her that far less talented writers have a higher profile. But on the strength of the scarifying Face of the Devil, it's surely only a matter of time before Cooper gets the kind of sales and attention commensurate with her talent' Crimetime.co.uk 8/7. (http://www.crimetime.co.uk/mag/index.php/showarticle/1896) 'A probing psychological book that reaches out to the reader on two levels, that of an interesting mystery and a deeply fascinating psychological insight into family relationships. Highly recommended.' Eurocrime 'The combination of a well-described setting in the Isle of Wight and Cooper's sensitive understanding of human behaviour lend conviction to an intriguing, enjoyable puzzle' Jessica Mann, Literary Review, August issue 'The combination of a well-described setting in the Isle of Wight and Cooper's sensitive understanding of human behaviour lend conviction to an intriguing, enjoyable puzzle' Jessica Mann, Literary Review, August issue