The Mystery Starts Here

Crais novel starts the way a good mystery should - with a dead body. Police are going door to door in the hills around Los Angeles to make sure residents evacuate because of raging fires. Two cops find a dead body, an apparent suicide. He’s holding a book of photos thatlead them to believe the dead guy is a seriel killer who had murdered one woman a year for seven years. The photos show the women at the point of death so he’s got to be the killer, right?

PI Elvis Cole becomes involved because he helped get the dead guy aquited three years earlier for one of the murders. His alibi was air tight. New evidence seems to prove the dead guy was guilty. Elvis feels bad because the man went on to kill more women, but he’s sure the evidence he developed is sound. He starts investigating and runs up to a wall erected by the police. Why are they conducting a secret investigation? Are they protecting one of their own?

There are plenty of twists and turns in this book that keep you guessing right up the the surprising end. “Chasing Darkness” is a quick exciting read that won’t let you down. I’ve read Crais’ books before and enjoyed them….until he started a long thread about Cole and his girl friend, Lucy. I found that thread boring and distracting. Now Crais seems to be back on track – writing an exciting mystery. I’ll look forward to reading his next book.

Well, what can I say – I’m on a roll. After trying to read so many loser books, I come up with another winner that I couldn’t put down.

“In the Dark” is the story of a thirty-year-old unsolved murder of a seventeen-year-old girl, Laura Starr. Jon Stride, the Chief of Police of Duluth, Minnesota grew up with Laura, has been haunted by the case all his life and it was the reason he became a cop. Now in the present, Tish Verdure, a journalist and one time friend the dead girl comes back to Duluth determined to write a book about Laura to get justice for her old friend. Tish is positive she knows who killed Laura and tries to enlist Stride’s help. 

There are twists and turns a plenty in this book that kept me turning the pages. I do have to tell you, I guessed who the killer was about half-way through the book but had to keep reading to make sure I was right. Can’t tell you what pointed me in the direction of the killer – may be just that I read so darn many mysteries that I’ve developed a feel for them. On the other hand, I was probably just lucky.

I think the novel could have been tightened a bit as I found myself skimming the last 50 pages or so. That said, I will definitely pick up another of Freeman’s books. Stride and his partner, Serena Dial are characters in a series of books by Freeman. I want to get the first book in the series and follow the development of the pair. You might want to do the same thing, but…you will certainly enjoy “In the Dark” as a stand alone book.