Where Petals Fall-Shirley Wells

Where Petals Fall
Shirley Wells
Soho, May 2009, $25.00
ISBN 9781569475720

Two boys find a female corpse in a nearby quarry. Her neck was slashed, a red ribbon with a wedding ring tied to the victim, who was wrapped in a white sheet. Forensic psychologist Jill Kennedy and Lancashire Detective Chief Inspector Max Trentham are shocked by the MO; five years ago the pair brought an end to the murdering horror of the serial killer the Undertaker; the suspect Eddie Marshall died in a police car chase when his vehicle went over a cliff. Although his corpse was never found, the killings ceased until now.

Jill and Max look back at their conclusions to the Undertaker case wondering whether the original profile was wrong and Marshall was an innocent, but using Holmesian logic ask why then did he run? They also ponder whether he could somehow have survived going over the cliff, which both agree is impossible. Neither premise seems right leading to the profiler and the cop to wonder if Marshall mentored his replacement.

The third Kennedy-Trentham police procedural (see INTO THE SHADOWS and A DARKER SIDE) is an engaging serial killer whodunit. The tone differs from the previous books because this time the relationship between the lead couple never connects as each is much more introspective due to the fears they fumbled the case five years ago. Readers will wonder did they make a tragic mistake or was Marshall preparing his replacement.

Harriet Klausner