When forensic investigator Madison Cross looks into the apparent suicide of Derek Grant, a vegetarian and environmentalist whose death makes absolutely no sense, she becomes trapped within his perverse family and the target of a killer. Original.
I read the other books in this series a while ago, but this one was hard to find, so I suspect they all may be out of print. What I remember of the others was that they were lighter forensic novels, not the gory details of say Patricia Cornwell or Kathy Reichs books, and this one was much the same. Perhaps they are geared towards teenagers/young adults, because the main character is a young doctor who decides she'd rather work for the Philadelphia Crime Scene Unit, part of the police department where her uncle is a Lieutenant, than practice medicine. Her role doesn't seem very well defined in the book, as she is tasked with going to a crime scene where a young guy is found dead in his kitchen and keeping eye on the body until the van comes to pick it up. Sounds like entry level scut work, but had she not been stuck at that scene, she would have been at another crime scene digging up the bones of a woman who died about a year earlier, a job that is usually done by a seasoned professional. They do rely on her medical knowledge to figure out some details on what might have killed the guy in the kitchen, but most of the investigative work is done by others. As with many books, things seemed awfully coincidental, and I felt Dublin made certain clues obvious, another sign that she might have been writing for a younger audience less familiar with forensics. I knew long before the end what really happened to the guy in the kitchen. The case of the woman who was found after a year played a more minor role in the book, but I thought that plotline was better written, as it left me guessing more often. I would probably read other books if this series started up again, just to see if the main character matures as she gets more involved in the job, but I believe I have now read all that were published.
Set in Philly, a young medical school graduate, Madison Cross, decides to forego her residency and join the crime lab. Well written fast read of a mystery. This is the type of mystery I enjoy, no gratuitous sex or violence...just plain old good detective work with a little thinking outside the box.
Really enjoyed this mystery. The main character is a young agent who works for a police dept. as a lab worker in forensics. Some of the clues were a little unbelievable, but still enjoyed it! This is part of a series, so will read others as they come out.