John Doe - Tess Gerritsen

It should have been a night to remember, but Maura Isles can’t recall a thing.Maura is at a party. A handsome man approaches. He’s charming and sophisticated. She flirts and drinks champagne. And then nothing. Total blackness. Nothing, that is, apart from these two facts: a man is dead and her address is found in his pocket . . .

I was quite happy to discover that I still had 2 short stories to go through while I wait for Gerritsen's next full length novel to come out. The first one I found was this one - John Doe - and I am very happy to report that I really enjoyed it and thought Gerritsen was almost as good in a short format as she is in a long one. Almost, because I would rather have more of Rizzoli & Isles.

The story apparently starts shortly after Isles’ testimony sends a cop to prison. Since that was such a big deal in the book where it happened I am glad that it just didn't disappear in the following books (this story is set before Last To Die).

In just a few paragraphs Gerritsen shows us Maura being a victim and, at the same time, the prime suspect of a crime. A victim that doesn't recall anything of what happened and that most cops, her friend Rizzoli excluded, wouldn't mind seeing go down.

I did like it that we get enough information to care about the victims and to wish that the criminals are caught. Sometimes, in such a short format, it is now easy to develop a plot satisfyingly and here I was quite happy with how the information is provided. In the end one feels that justice was served even if not by the usual police procedural methods (a book by Dame Agatha Christie came immediately to mind when I read this). 

My one complaint is that the ending comes about a bit abruptly. That may have been to respect the short story format but it wouldn't hurt to have things come about a bit more smoothly. Looking back this could easily have been transfomed into a full lenght book and I can't help but be sorry that it wasn't.

So, this short story felt a bit like a treat for Rizzoli & Isles fans. I can't wait to get my hands on Freaks (the other short story) but I guess I'll pace myself so as not to run out of R&I till the next book.

 Grade: 4/5