Devious-Lisa Jackson

Devious
Lisa Jackson
Kensington, Mar 29 2011, $25.00
ISBN: 9780758225658

On the verge of divorcing her husband Slade, Val Renard returns to New Orleans to open a B&B and to reason with her sister Camille that she does not have to hide as a nun. Val knows Camille wants Slade, but to join St. Marguerite’s Cathedral as a novice Sister seems overkill. However, Val is shocked when she finds her sibling brutally strangled.

Police Detectives Rick Bentz and Reuben Montoya lead the investigation though the latter should be recused from the case as he knows the victim and others at the Cathedral. The prime suspect is Father Frank O’Toole, who was having an affair with Sister Camille; Montoya knows him too. While the cops struggle with their case, another nun is murdered leading Bentz to fear the return of the allegedly dead Father John. Meanwhile Val begins her own inquiry while Slade arrives to persuade his wife not to divorce him while he joins her in her inquiry.

The freshness to the latest Bentz-Montoya New Orleans police procedural is the brisk amateur sleuth investigation by Val and Slade. Fast-paced from the moment Sister Camille’s opening terror and never slowing down until the final climatic confrontation and coda, fans will appreciate this suspense thriller as Lisa Jackson provides a taut Devious tale.

Harriet Klausner