The Last Winter of Dani Lancing

“In her own wallet she has two photographs of herself……..It’s the woman in the second photograph, the after image, taken maybe three years ago and thirty years after the first, who she recognises in the mirror today. Sat alongside the first photo, it reminds her of some champion slimmer standing next to the cardboard cut-out of their former self. The contrast between the two Pattys, especially in the face, scares her a little – showing how the acid of loss strips away the flesh, etches the lines of pain and rage into the body”

The Last Winter of Dani Lancing is the first book in the Dani Lancing series by British author, P.D.Viner. In January, 1989, Durham University student, Dani Lancing was reported missing. Some weeks later, her body was found: the police report said she had been raped and murdered. Over twenty years later, her case was still unsolved, and those close to her continued to grieve.

Patty Lancing has been obsessed with finding her daughter’s killer since 1989: what would she do if she actually found him? Jim Lancing has tried to get on with his life, but is haunted by the daughter he failed to protect from the “monsters” she feared at age five. Detective Superintendent Tom Bevans has loved Dani since they were both little: he now heads up a task force that hunts the perpetrators of sexually aggravated serial murders. When modern technology raises the possibility of reopening Dani’s case, reactions are mixed: radical actions will be taken and tightly-held secrets will be revealed.

The narrative is carried mainly by Tom, Jim and Patty, although other major players (Marcus, Audrey and Duncan) are occasionally given a voice, and Dani’s ghost and her diary entries play a significant part. The story switches between the events of 2010 and earlier times, but dates are clearly indicated, except where characters have flashbacks, so there is not really any ambiguity, and it serves Viner’s slow reveal of the secrets his characters hold. His characters are complex, multi-faceted, and none is quite what they first appear to be.

Viner skilfully illustrates the effect of an unsolved crime of this nature on those left behind; love, guilt, obsession and revenge all feature. This brilliant first novel has an original plot with plenty of twists and a thrilling climax. Readers who enjoy this novel will be pleased to learn that several associated (free) novellas and the second novel (The Summer of Ghosts) are already available for their reading pleasure. A stunning debut.