“Ritual” by Mo Hayder (Atlantic Monthly Press, $24)

It’s a supreme compliment to say that British writer Mo Hayder’s crime novels confidently veer toward the macabre, tapping into modern horror tales of cults, the occult and the just plain gruesome. While her thrillers have a cringe factor, Hayder’s sophisticated storytelling, affinity for complicated characters and involving plots have racked up awards and made her an international best-seller.

Hayder continues that strong approach in the chillingly brilliant “Ritual.”

In her fifth novel, police diver Phoebe “Flea” Marley discovers a human hand in the harbor near Bristol, England. She becomes obsessed with finding the body, especially when it’s discovered that the man was still alive when it was amputated. She becomes even more fixated on the case when the hand is linked to muti, a form of African witchcraft. Flea’s personal crusade causes friction with Jack Caffery, the police detective assigned the case. The ritual, which may be used to cover up a more sinister side of Bristol’s drug trade, will plunge both into a literal house of horrors.

Hayder’s pitch-perfect control of “Ritual” never falters as the novel takes numerous twists.

“Ritual” is not for the faint of heart, but the reward is crime fiction at its most compelling.