THE DEATH DEALER

Someone is killing members of the Ravens, a group dedicated to exploring the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe.

Genevieve O’Brien, whose close call with death has made her family and friends wrap her in cotton wool, fears in turn for the safety of her mother, a Raven board member, when wealthy Raven member Thorne Bigelow is poisoned and a second Raven is almost killed in a car accident. Scared, Gen calls on heartthrob shamus Joe Connolly. Though Joe has been avoiding the wealthy Gen since rescuing her from a serial killer (The Dead Room, 2007), he can’t turn down a request from the woman he loves and is forced to accept her help as they search for clues. Working with the cops who caught the case, they realize that although Bigelow’s son is the prime suspect, any of the Raven board members could have done the deed. When a woman with information about the case is found dead in the water off New Jersey, complete with a note, Joe and Gen follow a trail of death leading back to Poe’s old haunts in Richmond and Baltimore. Both detectives hear voices of the dead, but Gen is more open to the possibility that they’re real. In the end, her belief makes the difference between life and death.

Mystery, sex, paranormal events. What’s not to love?