MALIGNANT ASSUMPTIONS

A medical professional and amateur sleuth takes the law into her own hands in Rubin’s Massachusetts-based series thriller.

Pathology resident Liza Larkin has been diagnosed with schizoid personality disorder and has trouble relating to other people. When her colleague Megan Carlson’s aunt Fiona is found dead in what seems to be a freak accident, Liza suspects foul play and launches her own independent investigation. Guided by an internal voice—her late father’s—and the voice of reason of her lifelong therapist, Dr. Lightfoot, she believes that not all is as it seems in the quaint New England town of Morganville. She follows clues that lead her into a seedy world of sex, drugs, and violence, and finds that she has an ex-convict blackmailer on her trail. However, the way her mind works may make her perfect person for this job: “For social illiterates like me, help is the only thing we have to offer,” she narrates. In this second novel in a series, Rubin wastes no time in establishing her antihero as someone who secretly compares herself to serial killer Ted Bundy, who seems emotionless but has rage issues, and who has no interest in makeup or pop culture. She’s set up to be a complicated character, but as the story goes on, Liza’s characterization feels underdeveloped. For example, although she faces an urgent professional deadline and a blackmail plot, both of these personal issues are pushed to the side, as are hints of Liza’s dark side, in favor of the mystery plot. Nevertheless, the suspects effectively stack up as the twisty tale rolls on, and some of them even become Liza’s close allies, making for an exciting and ultimately satisfying read.

An intriguing whodunit with an unconventional hero hampered by shallow characterization.