MADreads

Shrinking the dead

July 9th, 2008 Molly - Central

A rash of star-studded murder-suicides has shaken the San Francisco Bay area more than the recent earthquakes and widowed forensic psychiatrist Jo Beckett has been called in to investigate.  Her specialty is the psychological autopsy, in which her expertise as a trauma medical doctor and her skills as a psychiatrist are used to determine what the victims were thinking and feeling prior to their deaths. 

All of the murder-suicide victims have ties to an exclusive club, The Dirty Secrets Club, and all of the victims have something to hide.  Beckett has 48 hours to figure out what’s going on before more victims die.  

Meg Gardiner has created a fantastic character with Jo Beckett.  Beckett is young and talented, with close ties to her family and a comical relationship with the goofball next door.  The added layers of having lost her husband, Daniel, in a tragic accident, the grit and gruesome nature of performing psychological autopsies, and a possible love interest in Gabe Quintana, a search and rescue colleague, make her character just the right level of complex.

Throw in a Halloween party with guests dressed up like their World of Warcraft avatars, a wicked monkey on the loose and enough coffee to swim in and you get an idea of Gardiner’s style of writing.  I can’t wait for more of this series.

Entry Filed under: Mystery, Thriller