“Within the walls of a cloistered convent, a scene of unspeakable carnage is discovered. On the snow lie two nuns, one dead, one critically injured – victims of a seemingly motiveless, brutally savage attack.
Medical examiner Maura Isles’ autopsy of the murder victim yields a shocking surprise, but the case takes a disturbing twist. The body of another woman has been found. And someone has gone to a lot trouble to remove her face, hands and feet.
As long buried secrets are revealed, so Dr Isles and homicide detective Jane Rizzoli find themselves part of an investigation that leads to an awful, dawning realisation of the killer’s identity…”
After having read the first two books in the Rizzoli & Isles series I was really curious about what was going to happen next. Would we know more about Dr Maura Isles? How would Jane Rizzoli go on after the developments at the end of the last book?
I am very happy to say that this story was an absolute page turner for me. I kept turning the pages and didn't want to put it down, except when I really had to, before I found out what had really happened.
A lot has been going on in Jane Rizzoli's life and soon she will have to make a decision about what she really wants in life. While she is given a lot of space in this story I felt the main role was left to Dr Maura Isles. As we got to know Rizzoli in the last book we are now treated to a view of Isles' private and professional life, I would guess the author wants to give them equal space in future books.
I did like the mystery very much. From the beginning I thought Gerritsen was taking us in one direction just to find out that the important stuff was actually something totally different. And she manages to make Isles 'personal life a part of that too. The three murders are actually connected, it doesn't seem that way for most of the story but when Gerritsen finally starts connecting all the dots she is absolutely brilliant.
What I didn't find very believable was Rizzoli's heart to heart with her mother and what that leads her to decide. I wish it had been more of a personal decision and that we had seen more of her relationship with Dean. I certainly would have liked to feel a bit more romance between them instead of just jumping to that final scene.
Grade: 4,5/5
This is one of my favorite books in the series - mostly because I loved the suspense thread.
ReplyDeleteYou'll find as the series goes on that there are some books that are more heavily Jane and others that are more heavily Maura. Book Four (Body Double) is a pretty strong Maura book.
As for Jane's relationship with Gabriel Dean - you sort of get that in drips and drabs throughout the series, although Vanish (Book Five?) is a real treat on that front. You get some chapters told from Gabriel's point of view and it really provides some insight into his relationship with Jane.....
I've been very curious about book four since I read the blurb. I did like Maura very much in this story. And yes, I loved the suspense too!
DeleteI loved the suspense thread here as well. I'm not particularly into the romance in this series. It's all a bit too glossed over in the first few books. Like Wendy says, you get a lot more in Vanish, but I still wasn't particularly compelled by it.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm going to browse both your blogs for the reviews of the upcoming books. I don't want to read them all in a row but when I finish one I immediately feel like opening up the next one.
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