Mark Devlin

The Cause & The Cure Mark Devlin

1990; Oxford, England, and the respectable facade of the City of Dreaming Spires is being shattered by a series of brutal murders.

Police chief Neil Lowe needs a quick result, especially if it allows him more time in the cafe. Rookie constable May Pearce is left disillusioned by what appears to be an orchestrated cover-up at the highest level; this is not why she joined the force.

Radio reporter Verity Hunter has noticed that the choice of victim suggests a far deeper motive than that of a straight psycho-killer - a particular breed of retribution is at play - and she stumbles upon another aspect of Oxford hidden from view - the world of "elite" secret-societies.

Her boyfriend Keith is on the same page, and his consulting of the direct-talking consciousness guru Max Zeall makes him realise that there are spiritual components dictating the way things are playing out. It's these very same forces which provide the opportunity to restore justice and balance.

A crime thriller set during a time of great cultural change, (the last days of Thatcherism, the Poll Tax riots, the fall of Communism, the first Gulf War, Acid House and Rave culture, ) gets taken to uncharted territories through allegory and metaphor, and the narrative's interplay with spiritual teachings. As such, The Cause & The Cure can be read on many different levels, according to the reader's own consciousness.