Find Me
O'Connell, Carol.
New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, c2006.
In this 9th outing, sociopathic New York detective Kathy Mallory's personal quest intersects with a hunt for a serial killer known as "Mack the Knife". Following historic Route 66, we're left unsure if the trail Kathy follows will eventually lead her to the killer or her father. This killer has been murdering small children for decades, burying them in unmarked graves along the road. The only clues linking them are missing hands that point to the next gravesite. Now that he's been noticed, new victims (parents of murdered children) are being targeted. An online therapist has arranged a caravan of grieving parents trying to get media attention. The FBI gets involved, trying to use the parents as bait, but seem to be criminally mishandling both evidence and procedure. Partner Riker and friend Charles Butler follow along, initially worried about a dead woman found in Kathy's apartment, then caught up in shepherding the caravan along its route. Much is made of Mallory's "unravelling" and whether she may actually have killed this woman.
Vintage Mallory, even though this novel humanized her somewhat. She's following a journey laid out in a series of letters that we eventually find out are written by her father. Along the way, she pursues a serial killer -- who may or may not be her father...These books are always slow to get into but then you can't put them down. This time the ending was a shocker. Is this the end of the series?
Murder on the Celtic
Allen, Conrad.
New York: St. Martin's Minotaur, 2007.
This is the eighth book in this cozy mystery series. In this fun romp, George and Genevieve are crossing from New York to London in 1910. They're set to look for the usual cardsharks and petty thieves when they receive a police bulletin that there might be a murderer on board. Their usual shipboard modus operandi is in effect and the couple both find themselves dodging unwanted attentions from the opposite sex. The celebrity du jour is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which ties in the author's detective writing and interest in occultism. His first edition manuscript of A Study in Scarlet is stolen and the pair must divide their time wisely.
This is a fun and light read for the most part. Fun dialogue and good descriptions of the ship create an inviting atomosphere. It does show the slightly darker side of those who were turned back at Ellis Island with several characters from steerage providing human interest to the story. I was mostly caught up in the mystery and was a little suprised at the solution.
Allen is a pseudonym for Edward Marston. He writes in many different eras of history. I'm going to have to look into some of his other work to see if he does for trains what he does for ocean liners.
Obsession
Kellerman, Jonathan.
New York: Ballantine Books, c2007.
The novel centres on Tanya Bigelow an old patient, Dr. Alex Delaware treated for OCD. She's come back to see him because her mother has just died, leaving her alone at 19. Her mother has made a vague deathbed confession. The mother Patty was an ER nurse for Dr. Rick Silverman, who we normally hear of but rarely see. Unconvinced of the possiblility of Patty doing some "terrible thing" but for Tanya's peace of mind, Alex says he'll talk to Milo and they'll look into things. As they probe the history of the family looking for unexplained corpses, a new one shows up. Days after they talk to a former acquaintance, he's murdered. This brings Det. Petra Connor on scene. They figure out the who fairly quickly but then it's a question of tracking the suspect down. As they search, more dirt is unearthed from the past.
I have to admit that I listened to the unabridged edition on tape. I love John Rubinstein's voice. I liked this book but wasn't over the moon about it. It debuted at #2 on the New York Times best seller list and is the 21st Alex Delaware novel since 1985. This does mean I should be used to this by now but in the last few Kellerman books, I've been finding that the story seems to wrap up too quickly. This time I was listening on the drive home and they finally figure it out and 5 short chapters later, it's all over. I wasn't even home yet. I felt so let down. It was building and building and then 10 minutes of hashing motive and evidence, they catch the guy and then his associate and The End -- except for the last chapter which could have safely been abridged. I did enjoy the introduction of Alex and Robin's new dog, Blanche. She sounded so cute, I could picture her perfectly. I'll keep putting myself on hold for new novels but more for the chance to listen to Rubinstein than storywriting skills.
For commuters, we have the unabridged book on cd and book on tape.