Just in time for the return of the TNT series "Rizzoli & Isles," July is the release date for Tess Gerritsen's newest novel in that series. I love the TV series but hadn't read one of the books for quite some time. I won this one from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program.Gerritsen's Acknowledgments notes that this story is more personal than her others, drawing as she did on her mother's background growing up in China. We learn Chinese legends and culture in a story that is wonderfully mysterious and gripping. Jane's team is joined by a Chinese policeman who seems to have a chip on his shoulder but he is a great help as they investigate the murder of a woman on the roof of a building where a massacre happened 19 years earlier. The widow of a waiter who was killed in the massacre is also material to the investigation. They must open the cold case to solve the current murder.
Maura Isles has just testified in a trial where a cop is charged with murder. Her facts don't help his case so she suffers the consequences at every crime scene. The blue line is suddenly the enemy. In this story Jane is married to an FBI agent and has a little daughter, and Maura has just broken up with her boyfriend. That's a little jarring to someone who hasn't kept up with the books but doesn't hurt the story at all if you're just discovering them. Nor does the fact of Jane's parents' break-up.
It's a little difficult to tell you any more about the story without giving too much away, but I will tell you that a Chinese legend about a stone monkey is central to the mystery, a legend that Jane and her team begin to wonder might actually be true. There is also a Boston mob boss involved, which is timely since Whitey Bulger, the real mob boss, has just been arrested and returned to Boston for trial.
This is one of the most unique mystery novels I've read in years and I thoroughly enjoyed it. You'll love Jane and Maura.
A couple of people have recommended this author to me, and I definitely want to try her. (alas, so many books, so little time!) I just love the LT ER program. They seem to attract really good quality in their selections!
ReplyDeleteI've read quite a few of Gerritson's books and loved her last one, I just can't for the life of me remember the name of it - where a group (including Moira) where snowbound in a deserted village... I'll definitely be looking out for this one. I've just found out that the next book in John Connolly's Charlie Parker series if due out in (I think) September here in the UK. Now that I'm really looking forward to, he is such a great writer. And great news about your adopted kitties! Hope the others will be ok. Mrs P has been taken off her renal meds at the moment as apparently she doesn't have renal disease right now, which is great news.
ReplyDelete