YOU CAN DIE

An FBI agent is on the hunt for a serial killer who leaves Valentine candy hearts at the scene of each crime.

Laurel Snow is the youngest FBI profiler in the agency’s history. After she quickly solves two difficult, high-profile cases, the FBI allows her to set up her Pacific Northwest field office in the small Genesis Valley area rather than nearby Seattle. Laurel and her colleagues are still managing the prosecution of a previous murder suspect when a shocking new crime scene is discovered: Her office manager’s ex-husband is found in a purple tent with multiple stab wounds and a mouthful of candy hearts. As more dead bodies appear in the same gruesome state, Laurel realizes another common factor is that all of the bodies were discovered near local churches. Complicating her investigation is her menacing and likely psychotic half sister, Abigail, who might be using her background in psychology to meddle with Laurel’s witnesses and influence the outcome of the investigation. When rumors start to circulate that Laurel and Abigail’s father, an evil ex-pastor named Zeke Caine, is returning to town, Laurel braces herself to meet him for the first time. Instead, Laurel’s investigation turns personal when he becomes the next victim of the “Broken Heart Killer.” Zanetti’s third book in the Laurel Snow series is a continuation of previous books and is chock-full of returning characters, including Laurel’s love interest, Capt. Huck Rivers, an agent with the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife. Although technically a stand-alone novel, the continuation of plotlines from previous books combined with juicy hints about future cases will leave readers clamoring for more. Laurel’s search for the killer is the major driver of the book, while her mellow, easy romance with Huck is firmly relegated to subplot status.

Another fast-paced, pleasing thriller from a master of romantic suspense.