A Dark and Twisted Tide    by Sharon Bolton Order:  USA  Can Minotaur, 2015 (2014) Hardcover, Softcover, e-Book      Reviewed by Hilary Williamson A Dark and Twisted Tide is the fourth (following Dead Scared, Now You See Me and Lost) in Sharon Bolton's engrossing crime thrillers starring D.C. Lacey Flint, an impulsive young police officer with a rather mysterious dark past, in London, England. After the trauma of Lost, Lacey has shocked her colleagues by requesting redeployment and going back into uniform. She is now a Constable with the Metropolitan Police's Marine Unit. She lives on the river, works on the river and swims on the river, an often perilous undertaking. Lacey is not happy that her love interest, DI Mark Joesbury, is working undercover again, and hears distressing rumors of his activities - is he a bent copper? She also continues to visit and consult Toc, the jailed female serial killer with whom she shares secrets not yet revealed to readers. Another key series character, DI Dana Tulloch of Lewisham's Major Investigation Team (a close friend of Mark Joesbury), is making progress in her yearning for a child. Her partner Helen has agreed to be a parent and they have started working with a fertility clinic to select a donor and arrange for in vitro fertilization. Lacey's latest risky activity is to swim daily in the Thames, usually with neighbor Ray. This time he has a cold and she swims alone. Lacey being Lacey, readers are not surprised that she encounters a corpse in the water, that of a young woman, shrouded in linen. As Lacey calls for backup, someone else in the water is watching nearby. Of course Lacey is soon entangled in the investigation - and the killer keeps moving in and out of her life, from the river. The story moves back and forth in time to enter the mind of the killer, as well as sharing the thoughts of past and future victims. As links are found to human trafficking, it becomes a race against time to track down the perp before the next young woman drowns. In A Dark and Twisted Tide, Sharon Bolton gives readers another spectacular police procedural/thriller, filled with action, unusual characters, and with surprises at every bend of the river. This is an exceptional series, not to be missed by any fan of Anglophile mysteries. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Mystery books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews