Wednesday, May 27, 2015

What Lies Behind - J.T. Ellison

What Lies Behind
J.T. Ellison
Mira, May 26 2015, $24.95
ISBN 9780778316503

Leaving the perilous law enforcement field work somewhat behind, Dr. Samantha Owens chairs Georgetown University Medical School’s Forensic Pathology Department.  The FBI also employs her as an expert on cases.

Sirens in her Georgetown neighborhood wake her up.  With Thor, Sam goes to look at what is happening so close to her home.  Homicide Lieutenant Darren Fletcher leads the investigation into what appears to be a murder-suicide with the latter barely alive rushed to the hospital.  Two intoxicated underage students including the deceased male’s former girlfriend found the victims.  Darren asks Sam to look at the crime scene; the former D.C medical examiner concludes a third person made it look like the man murdered the woman and tried to kill himself. 

Sam’s boyfriend Xander and his partner Chalk protect affluent British entrepreneur James Denon, while he is on business in America.  Their service overlaps with Fletch’s inquiry.  Meanwhile the Feds order the police detective and his advisor to back down at a time when evidence mounts of a pending bioterrorist attack.

The fourth Samantha Owens mystery (see When Shadows Fall, A Deeper Darkness and Edge of Black) is a very byzantine whodunit that grows exponentially more complicated (to our delight) with every new clue.  Incredibly fast-paced, readers will relish this tremendous suspense thriller; while also waiting for the next confrontation between the heroine and a person taunting her.


Harriet Klausner

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