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{{infoboxsortinfobox1
|title=Tooth and Claw
|author=Nigel McCrery
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=400
|publisher=Quercus
|date=November 2009
|isbn=1847248071
|amazonukcover=<amazonuk>1847248071</amazonuk>|amazonusaznuk=1847248071|aznus=<amazonus>1847248071</amazonus>
}}
''Tooth and Claw'' starts right at the very beginning - just as McCrery's other [[Core of Evil by Nigel McCrery|book]] about Lapslie did - with a murder. We have our answer on page one, and the tension in the book is all wound around discovering the original question - what makes a murderer? Why do people kill? Why does ''this'' one kill? I rather like this back-to-front way of doing things, but then I was never a big fan of whodunnits - principally, I suspect, because I never knew whodunnit until the reveal. I'm not a clever woman.
I like Mark Lapslie too - he's world-weary and cynical, as all the best detectives are, and he's also under pressure. He's fighting for his identity and his place in the world just as much as the serial killers he tries to catch. His life is pretty bleak - ''the arid plain of his life stretched before him up to the horizon of his death: no landmarks, nothing interesting or unknown to look forward to, just flat and featureless stretch of ground that could only be trudged across, step by step, until the end''. He needs this case. And luckily for him, this case not only needs his synaesthesia, it needs his doggedness and determination and intelligence too.
The deaths are simply vile and I didn't find any traces of black humour as I did in [[Core of Evil by Nigel McCrery|Core of Evil]], so if graphic descriptions aren't your thing, then you may not enjoy ''Tooth and Claw'' as much as I did. And even then, I have to say that I'll never look at a garden hose in quite the same way again! It's easy to read and completely absorbing. And as Whittley and Lapslie's paths converge, you'll find yourself guessing about the first victim over and over - I, of course, got it completely wrong. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose!
If crime is your thing, then we can recommend [[Cold in Hand by John Harvey]] and [[Bone by Bone by Carol O'Connell]]. We've also picked out our [[Top Ten Crime Novels]]. See if you think we got it right!
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