NEVER ALONE

In the first book of a new series, a New York City detective investigates a psychotic killer.

Megan McGinn has recently solved a difficult case whose perpetrator is now in a mental institution. Her beloved father, an NYPD veteran, has just passed away, and her mother, who has Alzheimer’s, has to be placed in a home. The day after the funeral, Megan and her sexy partner, Sam Nappa, catch a new case guaranteed to raise her stress level. Shannon McAllister, a nice, college-educated, middle-class young woman, is found dead in horrific circumstances. She’s been strangled but posed peacefully on her side, her nails neatly cut and cleaned. Her killer took no valuables and left no fingerprints but did leave a loaf of Irish soda bread baking in the oven and a plain gold ring sewn into her crotch. Because Shannon’s father has pull, the pressure to solve the case comes right from the top. Shannon had just ended an affair with one of her professors. This arrogant jerk looks like a good candidate to Megan, but he has an alibi. Taunting text messages sent to Megan from Shannon’s phone have her looking over her shoulder and eventually second-guessing herself. She even interviews the psychopath she just put away, hoping to learn something from the way his mind works. After Megan pushes the professor too hard and he assaults her, she’s placed on leave, but she keeps working the case on the sly.

A promising debut for fans of the procedural thriller. The complex heroine and startling denouement lift this one above the average and bode well for future installments.