Review: Parish's fight to live
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 18, 2011
I read books 1 - 3 of the Parish & Richards series back-to-back. Therefore, the reviews are being posted all at one time.In "The Flesh is Weak"" DI Parish and his trainee, Richards, arrive at a grave in Galleyhill Wood in Essex. It contains the skeleton of ten year-old Amy Linton--missing for eight years. Before they can leave the crime scene, Head of Forensics, Paul Toadstone, finds four more skeletons stacked beneath Amy. Before 24 hours is up, they have found three more graves, each with the skeletons of five children. Then they discover a fifth grave with only two. The clock is ticking.A reporter, who violates the edict to not say anything before Parish & Richards have notified the parents, is murdered, only his head is left in his ransacked apartment. The newspaper where he worked is destroyed by fire. As Parish and Richards slowly begin to collect the evidence and put the pieces of the puzzle together, two new players enter in the game. Amy's father John Linton wants to avenge his daughter and exorcise his guilt. Then there is Alex Knight who works with MI6 and is ordered to kill Parish after he requests information on his parents. While Parish and Richards survive the murderous killers, two beloved members of the team die.What's great about this ending is the wrap-up dealing with Linton & Knight. We know we'll see Knight again, and she just might help Parish figure out who he is, because that birth certificate of his is a forgery.As an aside, the reason behind the killing--which turned off another reviewer--while important, isn't the main thrust of this story. Yes, Parish & Richards are once again in the thick of it, but Ellis' developing secondary story about who Parish is and who were his parents is haunting. I look forward to more about his life.