WINGS OF MADNESS

Feds scour a New England town for a vicious killer stalking women in Dingle’s thriller.

Gus Wheeler has just wrapped up a music tour after filling in for a jazz band’s sickly bass player. But before he can enjoy any downtime with his girlfriend, his day job as an FBI agent pulls him away. He and his partner, Vanessa Lambert, head to a Massachusetts town where two women have been murdered and a third has vanished. Although there are only a few similarities between the victims, all three went missing in the downtown live-music area called Music Row. The agents’ investigation quickly focuses on the Bowers Street Band, a local group that covers ’80s and ’90s songs; it seems that all four members have, in some capacity, mingled with the victims. When the culprit targets a person close to Gus, he has mere days to track them down before it’s too late. Dingle’s narrative, the second installment in his Gus Wheeler FBI Thriller series, is effectively concise as it zeroes in on Gus and Vanessa scrutinizing crime scenes, interviewing suspects, and piecing together evidence. The characters are dynamic—the investigative partners differ (Gus has to Google current slang just to keep up with Vanessa) as often as they mesh (“Vibe check,” Vanessa demands when she wants Gus’ read on a potential suspect). One of the Bowers Street Band members intermittently takes over the narrative as his recent lost memories (a possible side effect of a prescription drug) lead him to believe he’s the murderer; these chapters provide intriguing insight into a disoriented mind. The mystery remains strong and the killer isn’t easy to unmask; the final act pumps up the suspense as Gus’ smartphone counts down how much time an imperiled character has left.

Razor-sharp sleuths headline this engaging whodunit.