Smith, Marshall. The Straw Men. New York: Jove 2002. 389pp.

Michael Marshall is a the mystery writing pseudonym for Brit horror writer Michael Marshall Smith, so I guess we should be expecting a mystery novel with horrific elements here. And guess what, that's just what we're getting. I've read a few of the Smith horror short stories and quite liked them but none of his novels before this one.

And guess what? I quite liked this horror tinged serial killer novel, with lots of mysterious plots and subplots and surprise twists to keep it interesting. Murder, family secrets, secret societies, brutal serial killers, government conspiracies, what's not to like? This is the first in a trilogy of related novels, the other two of which have already been published (although I haven't even bought them yet): The Upright Man and Blood of Angels. This is a great testimony to the Stephen Jones Year's Best Horror series, as that's where I discovered Smith and what ultimately led me to taking a chance on this novel. I guess I'll finally be tracking down some of those horror novels too.