Shifting Skin

An all-too-familiar serial-killer plot drives British author Simms's underwhelming second police procedural to feature Det. Insp. Jon Spicer (after Killing the Beasts). The ""Butcher of Belle Vue"" takes his name from the Manchester neighborhood where he dumps his female victims' flayed corpses. Spicer, who's on tenterhooks with his boss, Detective Chief Inspector McCloughlin, after his maverick efforts to catch the Chewing Gum Killer in Killing the Beasts, suspects that his new partner, Rick Saville, may be a plant to get the goods on him. That concern doesn't prevent Spicer from bending the rules as he sees fit, like obtaining an unauthorized DNA sample from a suspect. Not many readers will be shocked at the revelation of the Butcher's true identity. A competent writer, Simms needs to imbue his books with more depth and imagination if he's to stand out in the crowded serial killer subgenre.