When 12-year-old Paul Ray goes missing from school, Detective Michael York and his team are called in to investigate. But this may be more than just a child playing hooky ... in the restroom is a pool of blood .. and the words IN THE BLOOD painted on the wall in that blood.

Everyone is the village knows of the Ray family. For years ... generations .. they've all been pig farmers and more than that .... at least one member of the family in each generation has been demented .. or just plain evil.

The most obvious suspect is Thomas Ray .. who has recently been released from prison for murder. And Yorke has a connection. But when they find Thomas dead ... Yorke and his team have to delve through the family history to find all the people who may have a grudge against the family.

Where is the boy? Is he still alive? Or a pawn in a bigger. more evil game?

WOW! The story starts with a bang and the suspense just grows and grows until the surprising ending. The characters are memorable and I'm looking forward to discovering more about Yorke in the next books.

Many thanks to the author / BooksGoSocial / Netgalley / TBC Reviewer Request Group (FB) for the digital copy of this awesome crime fiction. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

One last Prayer for the Rays is one brilliant crime thriller you need to get your hands on if you haven't already! It's riveting, suspenseful and intrigued me from the get-go. It sure was unputdownable and I found myself captivated by the storyline and setting. Wes Markin introduces us to Detective Michael Yorke, a tough and relentless officer of the law with a mysterious past (which is unveiled in A lesson in Crime/Defined- a short story on Yorke's past which can be downloaded from the author's website https://wesmarkinbooks.weebly.com/). In the beginning, the number of characters introduced was surely overwhelming so remembering them was the only place I struggled. However, once you get past the many names, you enter the best part of the story. Never a dull moment, reading every chapter is a sheer delight! I found the pace set very well. The ending too was just brilliant!
So here goes another series I WILL definitely be following. I'm highly impressed that this is Wes Markin's debut novel and he' already set the bar very high with it. Can't wait for the next!
Thank you NetGalley, Wes Markin & BooksGoSocial for an arc!

Every parent's nightmare; a twelve year old boy has gone missing from school and DCI Michael Yorke believes he knows exactly where to look first, a recently released local murderer named Thomas Ray. But when Ray is found savagely murdered Yorke has to do a deep dive on Ray's family for answers before the clock runs out. Holy moly, strap in, because these people are the absolute worst.

This one makes you sleep with the lights on, in the best way!

Thank you to Wes Markin, BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was very well written and DCI Yorke is a formidable officer. The Ray family is twisted and dark, with secrets that should have been told long ago. Revenge, mayhem and evil.. Not for the faint of heart.

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the eARC.
Wow, this was some read! Couldn't put it down and just loved it. Hope the 2nd book in this new series is published very soon.
DCI Micheal Yorke and his team are very likeable, but you can't say the same thing about the Ray family...they are seriously nasty. The action starts with the kidnapping of 12-year old Paul Ray and is quickly followed by the disappearance of another family member. Another Ray is a cold killer...it's therefore not easy to have any empathy for the Ray family.
There are parts that are horrifying, but mostly left to your imagination, which I liked. The story is compelling, fast paced and well written, definitely a must read and highly recommended.

My first read by this author. 12 year old Paul disappears and DCI Michael Yorke thinks local recently released local murderer Thomas Ray may have taken him. Then a discovery makes that theory impossible so DCI Yorke must look again.
I found the story all absorbing from the start the pace kept up and carried me with it. It laid out the gory detail and the nastiness of some of the characters without sugar coating which I loved to see.
I did not particularly warm to any of the characters but was gripped by it and would recommend.

I enjoyed reading this book. It had a good story to it. I liked the variety of characters in it. I hope to read more books by this author.