Two O’Clock Boy By Mark Hill

Two O’Clock Boy is the stunning eponymous debut novel from author Mark Hill. It is a story that grabs you by the throat and never let go.

Two O’Clock Boy By Mark Hill

Moving between the present day investigations and the weeks in 1984 after Connor Laird first went to Longacre Children’s Home, readers are taken on a thrill ride full of twists, shocks and complete moral ambiguity. Connor was the boy who harboured such anger and intensity within, that he terrified everyone at the children’s home. The ramshackle Longacre Children’s Home was run by the abusive Gordon Tallis who terrorised the children and used them for his drug trade. The events that occurred in the home are set to have devastating repercussions through the years.

Kenny Overton is a petty criminal trying to go straight. Working the night shift in a supermarket he is trying his best to turn over a new leaf to make up for a life of mistakes, a life which began in Longacre Children’s Home. When Kenny, his wife and one of his two sons are brutally murdered, DS Flick Crowley is appointed lead investigator for this gruesome triple murders. DS Flick Crowley has been recently promoted with the recommendation of DI Ray Drake, her mentor.

From the very beginning of the investigation Flick finds herself being hindered by Ray, and she initially assumes that Ray is probably not too confident in her yet. Ray, who has lost his wife to cancer, is facing a tough time in his relationship with his daughter. As Flick digs into the past, she begins to find Drake’s actions disturbing and she suspects Drake has some connection with the Longacre Children’s Home that he is desperate to keep buried. But nothing is going to stop her getting to the truth. Not even Drake.

As the body count of former inmates of the children’s home begins to pile up, Drake knows he and his family are targets of the killer who calls himself the Two O’Clock Boy. He knows he needs to find a way to prevent Crowley from following her instincts and investigating the children’s home with its ill-fated history and residents. But when the killer begins to stalk and taunt Drake, Drake has to ask himself how far he is willing go to stop the murders, protect his daughter and mother and cover up the truth.

The tension gradually builds to the final dramatic crescendo, with twists and deception along the way. With The Two O’Clock Boy, Mark Hill has joined the upper echelons of London crime writers.