The next Tate and Schroeder book was a bit of a slow start but then picked up the pace and I was thoroughly pleased. It's been some years since I read the first books in this series, but this book reminds us frequently of past events and it didn't take me long to remember the characters. This time there is a spree killing happening one night and Tate and Schroeder find out it is related to their first murder case years ago. We know who the killer is and the chapters alternate between the killer and Theodore Tate. A very enjoyable police procedural where the main cops often go rogue. I will continue to read Paul Cleave's books. ( )

New Zealand author Paul Cleave specializes in intense and violent thrillers set in the Christchurch area. The Laughterhouse is his 6th book in the Christchurch Murders series and the third one to feature Theo Tate, a disgraced police detective who has been struggling along as a private investigator. In this outing Theo has a chance to be reinstated to the police force as he assists his friend, Detective Carl Schroder in hunting down Caleb Cole, a spree killer who is intent on punishing everyone who he holds responsible for the death of his small daughter, and the suicide of his wife fifteen years ago. He has been in jail for the last fifteen years for the killing of the man who brutally killed his daughter, but now his revenge is turned upon jurors, lawyers, and witnesses.

Cole kidnaps a psychiatrist who testified that the killer could be cured of his obsession with young girls. Along with him, he also took the doctors three young daughters vowing to kill the children in front of their father. This tense story actually follows a number of narratives, one of which is Theo’s backstory which includes the loss of his daughter and a wife in a coma. As the police tear around Christchurch in an effort to locate Cole and rescue the children, the lack of sleep and rising tension has everyone near to collapse.

As with all his books, I found The Laughterhouse to be a total page-turner. It is gripping and heart-wrenching with characters that, even as they act in horrifying ways, are somewhat sympathetic. Theo is fighting his own demons and injuries and the ending of the book leaves a number of questions that I am hoping further books will answer. This is a great series, but not for the faint hearted as it can be very bloody and dark. ( )

From Amazon:

Theodore Tate never forgot his first crime scene—ten-year-old Jessica found dead in “the Laughterhouse,” an old abandoned slaughterhouse with the S painted over. The killer was found and arrested. Justice was served. Or was it?

Fifteen years later, a new killer arrives in Christchurch, and he has a list of people who were involved in Jessica’s murder case, one of whom is the unfortunate Dr. Stanton, a man with three young girls. If Tate is going to help them, he has to find the connection between the killer, the Laughterhouse, and the city’s suddenly growing murder rate. And he needs to figure it out fast, because Stanton and his daughters have been kidnapped, and the doctor is being forced to make an impossible decision: which one of his daughters is to die first.

My Thoughts:

The Laughterhouse may well be Paul Cleave's darkest novel but once it gets going, you just can't put it down. The story is told from the point of view of a killer who has determined to revenge the death of his wife and daughter and the police detective who has the biggest reasons to catch him. Though the story is set in Christchurch, New Zealand, it could be anywhere--except for the weather. It's told with such intensity and gripping action that never lets up. What is so compelling is how much the killer and detective have in common when it comes to great loss and emotional trauma. I highly recommended this to anyone who loves an unusual story with plenty of action and characters you've never met the likes of before.
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Spooky, empty, a shell of its former house the slaughterhouse rendered its last victim years ago until someone bought young Jessica here one last time. Cold, abandoned, and all alone was no way for a young girl to spend her final moments, bleeding out on the floor of the building that local jokesters christened the laughterhouse by removing the ‘s.’ In fact there was nothing funny about it at all.
Theodore Tate was there to witness the depravity of this sad story, one of his first cases. Fifteen years later, he finds himself back at the scene as a new killer stalks the streets of Christchurch. Four more bodies lie on the slab at the morgue until the police figure out there is a link to Jessica’s death fifteen years before. And the fifth victim—a psychiatrist who testified in the original trial—is missing, along with his three young daughters.
Battling his own demons and injuries Tate finds himself accepted back into the police ranks in order to bring this new killer to justice, and time is running out. If he doesn’t find them soon the doctor will have to choose the order in which his young girls die. With the voyeuristic press hard on his heels, his commanding officer suspended and the city’s psychics all offering an opinion Tate not only has to solve the crime but do it all in time to get to the nursing home where his wife, who has been in a coma for three years, has suddenly gained consciousness. With everything on the line, Tate will stop at nothing to find salvation, sanity and put the bad guy away for good.
Paul Cleave has made a believer out of me. Christchurch is a city I never want to visit. This dark, gripping thriller, the latest in the Tate saga, is as hard-boiled as it gets. The surprise ending suspends all belief. Like a TV series that ends its season on a cliffhanger, you won’t want to wait until next year. This will leave the reader clamoring for the next book in the series now!
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Spooky, empty, a shell of its former house the slaughterhouse rendered its last victim years ago until someone bought young Jessica here one last time. Cold, abandoned, and all alone was no way for a young girl to spend her final moments, bleeding out on the floor of the building that local jokesters christened the laughterhouse by removing the ‘s.’ In fact there was nothing funny about it at all.
Theodore Tate was there to witness the depravity of this sad story, one of his first cases. Fifteen years later, he finds himself back at the scene as a new killer stalks the streets of Christchurch. Four more bodies lie on the slab at the morgue until the police figure out there is a link to Jessica’s death fifteen years before. And the fifth victim—a psychiatrist who testified in the original trial—is missing, along with his three young daughters.
Battling his own demons and injuries Tate finds himself accepted back into the police ranks in order to bring this new killer to justice, and time is running out. If he doesn’t find them soon the doctor will have to choose the order in which his young girls die. With the voyeuristic press hard on his heels, his commanding officer suspended and the city’s psychics all offering an opinion Tate not only has to solve the crime but do it all in time to get to the nursing home where his wife, who has been in a coma for three years, has suddenly gained consciousness. With everything on the line, Tate will stop at nothing to find salvation, sanity and put the bad guy away for good.
Paul Cleave has made a believer out of me. Christchurch is a city I never want to visit. This dark, gripping thriller, the latest in the Tate saga, is as hard-boiled as it gets. The surprise ending suspends all belief. Like a TV series that ends its season on a cliffhanger, you won’t want to wait until next year. This will leave the reader clamoring for the next book in the series now!
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