Hunted-Elizabeth Heiter

Hunted Elizabeth Heiter Mira, Dec 31 2013, $14.95 ISBN 9780778315841 Working at the Virginia FBI Behavior Analysis Unit, profiler Evelyn Baine became a Fed after what happened to her BFF as a child. Her cold demeanor turns off her peers, local law enforcement and victim’s family members, but she is one of the best at solving cases so is in demand. Evelyn currently leads the investigation into the Bakersville Burier serial killer who buries his female victims in the nearby woods leaving only their heads exposed. However, this brilliant murderer knows Evelyn pursues him and has plans to greet her with a special gravesite. The first Evelyn Baine police procedural is an entertaining serial killer tale due in part to the unlikable unique heroine who’s colder than the tundra (think of a more clinical matter of fact than the early TV version of Kathy Reich’s Bones). There is too much explicatory telling instead of active showing and the culprit needed either more time or no time as his brief interludes feel intrusive rather than macabre fascinating. Still, fans will enjoy this cat and mouse thriller as the antagonist plans to show the protagonist who the cat and trapped mouse are. Harriet Klausner