A woman's corpse is discovered in a meadow. A strange combination of letters and numbers has been tattooed on the soles of her feet. Detective inspector Beatrice Kaspary from the local murder squad quickly identifies the digits as map coordinates. These lead to a series of gruesome discoveries as she and her colleague Florin Wenninger embark on a bloody trail – a modern-day scavenger hunt using GPS navigation devices to locate hidden caches. The "owner" of these unofficial, unpublished geocaches is a highly calculating and elusive fiend who leaves his victims' body-parts sealed in plastic bags, complete with riddles that culminate in a five-stage plot. Kaspary herself becomes an unwilling pawn in the perpetrator's game of cat and mouse as she risks all to uncover the motives behind the murderer's actions. Five is definitely not a book for the faint-hearted, but it delivers great suspense, unexpected plot twists, and multi-dimensional characters.
"A canny police procedural. The narrative does a slow burn at first, but builds up to an alarmingly faster pace in the second half, as clues and revelations come thick and fast. The novel itself is tightly structured and the mystery element has a terrific number of twists and turns built in that don't let up until the final page. Also excellent are the maddeningly intricate mind-twisters in note f
The Boston Globe
"Like so many satisfying European police thrillers, FIVE combines many story elements--Beatrice's painful personal history, the interpersonal dynamics of the detective squad, and a rogues' gallery of victims and suspects--with convincing specifics. … Most convincing of all is the book's heroine, who perseveres, braving much danger, pursuing an illuminating connection 'like a thin red thread in the
Wall Street Journal
"An intriguing melding of a gripping police procedural and an exciting update of the puzzle mystery. Archer imbues "Five" with an inventive plot, tense suspense and fully realized characters that seem as if they have been around for years. Archer's clever use of geocaching proves that the light puzzle mystery can be successfully incorporated into a hard-boiled novel with aplomb."
