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The brutal killing of a Minnesota ex-priest stirs up dark secrets in this thriller.

After she lets a prime suspect get away, Det. Paige McGraw is determined to prove herself at the St. Paul homicide unit. Her latest case is a body in a college library showing signs of strangulation and post-mortem mutilation. The victim is Father Paul Sayer, a defrocked priest and convicted child molester out on parole. Readers know that his killer, called “Friend” (as he signed a note to Sayer), meticulously covers his tracks and already has a second target in mind. Meanwhile, Paige and her partner and potential mentor, Inspector Clarissa Wright, investigate with the assumption that the murder ties to Sayer’s disturbing crime and someone is out for revenge. But this increasingly complicated case soon ropes in a priest as well as a local businessman who’s reputedly the “richest person in Minnesota” and maybe even the country. The detectives hope a probable witness—student and assistant librarian Jiāo Xiè—can lead them to the murderer before he kills again. Bennetts’ deliberately paced story supplies multiple narrative perspectives. The tale oscillates among several characters, including Friend, the investigating partners, and, in flashbacks to an unknown time, a boy who falls prey to Sayer. As these characters take precedence over the mystery, it won’t be long before readers unmask the killer. The cast nevertheless enthralls, from appealing Jiāo to charmingly gruff Lou Nicosia, a former cop who’s now working a campus security job. Various characters are immersed in all sorts of things, including blackmail, a coverup, and anonymous calls from a burner phone. One player may be hiding sexual proclivities. The exciting final act is pleasantly unexpected, both in terms of its setting and characters. This leads to a coda that’s just as surprising and unforgettable.

A gripping murder mystery with absorbing subplots and a superlative cast.