You Belong to Me - Karen Rose

Years ago, a young girl was beaten and raped while onlookers did nothing. Now those witnesses are becoming victims themselves…

Baltimore city Homicide Detective JD Fitzpatrick has seen a lot of horrific violence, both as a cop and during his deployment in Afghanistan, but nothing like the trail of tortured bodies that are turning up throughout the city. He’s up against a brutal killer with a very personal vendetta. And now JD is beginning to suspect that his medical examiner may be shielding some crucial evidence linked to the case.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Lucy Trask is intrigued by JD’s compassion, but she isn’t about to mix work with pleasure. Not while there’s a ruthless killer on the loose. And definitely not while she’s keeping a dark secret that could connect her to these vicious killings—and put her next on the killer’s hit list…

One of the good things of reading Karen Rose's books is that we keep revisiting familiar characters. When I grabbed this one I was surprised that I didn't recognise any names. A quick look to her website told me that Clay Maynard, a secondary character here, had also been a secondary character in Nothing to Fear. Sadly I don't remember him and I didn't even mention him on my review of that book (a reread will be in order one of these days). So it was with some expectation that I started reading this, after all a whole new set of characters was going to be introduced and the action is now set in Baltimore.

We are introduced to the villain first and then to our hero and heroine. Dr Lucy Trask is a Medical Examiner and JD Fitzpatrick is a detective. They meet when Lucy finds a body while out running. At first she believes that the dead man is a dear friend, when his real identity is discovered it is apparent that Lucy also knew him and that she was set up to find the body. JD is one of the detectives assigned to the case. He and Lucy had met before but it is only now that they realise that they are attracted to one another.

The villain, unlike some of Rose's previous villains, is someone that actually has a reason to hold a grudge against his victims. They all had some participation in a past crime and this bad guy is determined to make them pay in a horrific manner. Among those he believes should pay for what happened is Lucy, by dumping the bodies where she can find them he is sending her a message... she will be next.

I had two problems with this story. One was that Lucy and JD fall for each other too quickly and I couldn't feel much chemistry between them. If there had been more tension and less hurry in getting them together I think I would have liked it better. The second thing is that I was made to believe the victims had had a much more active part in the past events than they did. And the same thing happened with those surrounding Lucy. Not that what they did wasn't bad enough but I think Rose was trying to shock us even more and in the end she didn't deliver...

Overall it was an entertaining story but it could have been better. Definitely not one of my favourites of Rose's books. Regarding Clay Maynard I am hoping she decides to give him a happy ending soon, there's a hint in this book about who his leading lady might be so, while I already know that they're not in the next book, I sure hope Rose makes it happen soon.

Grade: 3/5