BODIES LEFT BEHIND by Jeffery Deaver
My man, Jeffery Deaver, has done it again, and by that I mean he has written another totally gripping mystery that has more twists and turns to it than a dropped bowl of spaghetti. In BODIES LEFT BEHIND he introduces us to a new lead character who is as charismatic and compelling as fan favorites Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs, stars of most of his books. The “star” of the new story is Brynn McKenzie and she is as complex as any character Deaver has ever created.
Brynn is a divorced mother of one child who she lives and works in a small town in Wisconsin. She is a deputy sheriff and as such takes a call one night to investigate an aborted 911 message from a lake house in her area. When she arrives at the isolated lakefront home she stumbles on to a double murder. Things get even more complicated when she finds a young woman there who escaped being killed.
Brynn and the woman, who is named Michelle, flee into the night trying to evade the killers. Without a cell phone or anyway to communicate with her office she is on her own. Circumstances also force her to flee on foot with the killers in hot pursuit.
All of this sounds like a straightforward mystery but there are complex issues abounding. Brynn’s new husband is not happy withy his home life. He feels Brynn puts her job ahead of him and also shuts him out of any decisions concerning her son Joey. Because of his feelings he does not respond to Brynn’s extended absence until much later than he normally would.
Also the twists and turns in this story are so logical (after the fact) and so surprising that you relish every word in every sentence in the story. Deaver is the craftiest plotter writing today and he knows how to make each mystery and drama much more mysterious and dramatic than it should be. Once you have completed the story and reflect back on it you ask yourself, how did I miss that?
Deaver has his millions of fans waiting for the next Rhyme/Sachs book, and after that the next Kathryn Dance book (she starred in
THE SLEEPING DOLL). Now we add the next Brynn McKenzie book to our waiting list. All this means that Deaver is going to have to sleep less and write more.
Jeffery Deaver is the most consistently entertaining writer around. He creates stories that invade your thoughts and linger long after the last page has been closed. It can truly be said of him that he just gets better and better for BODIES LEFT BEHIND is one of his best.
BODIES LEFT BEHIND is published by Simon and Schuster. It contains 350 pages and sells for $26.95.