A crime novel that reflects its main character: It’s rough around the edges but gets the job done.
An FBI profiler pursues a new case when prominent defense lawyers start dying under suspicious circumstances in Wood’s thriller.
Two years after catching a dangerous serial killer in New Orleans, Special Agent Chris DiMeglio is now chief of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit and tasked with becoming the poster boy to improve the FBI’s image with an increasingly disgruntled public. If working closely with the media weren’t already disconcerting enough, the fact that it is investigative reporter Carla Lane (whom DiMeglio finds overbearing) who calls his attention to a new potential serial killer on the loose aggravates him even more. Butonce he learns the details, it becomes clear that the connections between the murders could not be coincidental. The victim profiles speak for themselves: Several prominent criminal defense attorneys, mostly ones who have taken on cases defending the lowest, cruelest types of criminals, begin dying by apparent suicide, leaving behind extremely similar notes. When the killer contacts DiMeglio directly with text messages that indicate a hatred for lawyers, a penchant for quoting Shakespeare, and the dedication and the means to commit these murders across the globe, the profiler realizes it will take a lot of work to catch the Shakespeare Killer before more lawyers die and the FBI loses even more of the public’s esteem. The author’s second outing with DiMeglio is a standalone novel anchored by engaging tidbits about the profiling of serial killers and a competent, if troubled, hero who has an alarming proclivity to sleep with women related to his cases. At least he is self-aware: “DiMeglio wondered if he had some sort of need to get involved romantically with women who were connected to his work.” While the narrative hops around awkwardly in places, and the story at times feels dissonant as it focuses more on showcasing Tuscany’s delightful cuisine and sights than on the FBI team’s grueling search for a cold killer, this is an effective, if familiar, procedural.
A crime novel that reflects its main character: It’s rough around the edges but gets the job done.Pub Date: June 13, 2023
ISBN: 979-8985856422
Page Count: 424
Publisher: Plum Bay Publishing, LLC
Review Posted Online: Aug. 4, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.
Two killers are on the loose. Can they be stopped?
In this ambitious mystery, the prolific and popular King tells the story of a serial murderer who pledges, in a note to Buckeye City police, to kill “13 innocents and 1 guilty,” in order, we eventually learn, to avenge the death of a man who was framed and convicted for possession of child pornography and then killed in prison. At the same time, the author weaves in the efforts of another would-be murderer, a member of a violently abortion-opposing church who has been stalking a popular feminist author and women’s rights activist on a publicity tour. To tell these twin tales of murders done and intended, King summons some familiar characters, including private investigator Holly Gibney, whom readers may recall from previous novels. Gibney is enlisted to help Buckeye City police detective Izzy Jaynes try to identify and stop the serial killer, who has been murdering random unlucky citizens with chilling efficiency. She’s also been hired as a bodyguard for author and activist Kate McKay and her young assistant. The author succeeds in grabbing the reader’s interest and holding it throughout this page-turning tale of terror, which reads like a big-screen thriller. The action is well paced, the settings are vividly drawn, and King’s choice to focus on the real and deadly dangers of extremist thought is admirable. But the book is hamstrung by cliched characters, hackneyed dialogue (both spoken and internal), and motives that feel both convoluted and overly simplistic. King shines brightest when he gets to the heart of our darkest fears and desires, but here the dangers seem a bit cerebral. In his warning letter to the police, the serial killer wonders if his cryptic rationale to murder will make sense to others, concluding, “It does to me, and that is enough.” Is it enough? In another writer’s work, it might not be, but in King’s skilled hands, it probably is.
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781668089330
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
As the prosecutor sadly observes: “All this because of a dead buffalo.”
Idyllic Catalina Island turns out to be just as crime infested as the rest of Los Angeles County in the latest series launch by the creator of Harry Bosch, Renée Ballard, and the Lincoln Lawyer.
Det. Sgt. Stilwell has been bounced off the county homicide squad and rusticized to Catalina, where the exclusive Black Marlin Club won’t admit even four-term Avalon Mayor Doug Allen to full membership and the most serious infraction seems to be the killing and cutting up of a buffalo, presumably by Henry Gaston, who operates Island Mystery Tours when he’s not threatening endangered species. All that changes with the discovery of a body sunk in the surrounding waters. The corpse, most recognizable by its streak of purple hair, is that of Leigh-Anne Moss, a Black Marlin server recently fired for fraternizing with members and guests she sees as potential sugar daddies. Stilwell is sufficiently invested in her murder to compete vigorously over jurisdiction with Rex Ahearn, the LA County homicide detective who kept his job when Stilwell lost his. Their rivalry, fueled by mutual contempt, is only the first hint that Stilwell will end up fighting his counterparts in law enforcement and local government at least as hard as he fights crooks like hit man Merris Spivak and Oscar “Baby Head” Terranova, Henry’s boss, who comes under sharper scrutiny when Henry disappears and ends up dead himself. Connelly handles his hero’s obligatory romance with assistant harbormaster Tash Dano and his increasingly wary alliance with assistant D.A. Monika Juarez with equal professionalism, and if the wrap-up leaves some loose ends dangling, well, that’s what franchises are for.
As the prosecutor sadly observes: “All this because of a dead buffalo.”Pub Date: May 20, 2025
ISBN: 9780316588485
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
