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P. J. Gray #1
Gray Matter
Unable to locate the head of a dead pianist, psychologist PJ Gray and with homicide detective Leo Schultz must attempt to recreate the crime using the computer software she has developed in order to put an end to a killer's diabolical scheme. Reissue.
Paperback
First published May 1, 1996
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About the author
Shirley Kennett
11 books10 followersShirley Kennett is the author of the PJ Gray series of thrillers, which center on a psychologist and single mother who deploys virtual reality technology to solve homicides for the St. Louis Police Department. The novels in the series include Gray Matter, Fire Cracker, Chameleon, Act of Betrayal, and Time of Death. She is also the author of Burning Rose, a stand-alone environmental mystery. Under the pseudonym Dakota Banks, Kennett wrote the Mortal Path series of supernatural thrillers. She lives in Missouri.
Shirley Kennett is a member of International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and the American Crime Writers League. She lives with her husband, two sons, and several cats in the St. Louis metropolitan area.
aka Morgan Avery, Dakota Banks.
Shirley Kennett is a member of International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and the American Crime Writers League. She lives with her husband, two sons, and several cats in the St. Louis metropolitan area.
aka Morgan Avery, Dakota Banks.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 15, 2016
Serial Killer Seeking Talent
Shirley Kennett gets extra points for having an imaginative serial killer who selects victims based on their extraordinary talents, such as skiing, basketball, painting, piano and ballet. The killer is known from the beginning, actually from the first chapter. This is not a whodunnit, so you read about his work over multiple murders. The violence is not graphic, yet his unique personality makes the story.
Dr. Penelope Grey is running away from home, her cheating ex-husband and his new, bimbo wife; taking her son, Thomas, to start a new job with the St. Louis PD in a cooperative program where they will use her virtual reality simulation software and psychology degree to catch major criminals.
In 1996, VR was very much in its early stages, without much commercial uptake or ROI. There wasn't a 1 in a 1,000,000 chance you would get a police department to invest in VR without a finished product, product trials and a formal bidding process, AND a REAL NEED.
How many serial killers does St. Louis get in an average year? Not enough to support a dedicated VR program. What other crimes is it really suited for other than murder? Would the FBI BSU even spring for this in 1996? Unlikely.
It makes for a nice story to have VR used on a serial killer case, BUT, most of the early insights came from Dr. Grey's Artificial Intelligence software, which was mentioned in just a single sentence in the book. Now we are really out in tech implausibility-land here. This was written in the time of diskettes, modems and AoL. I just click on this software option, turning on my Artificial Intelligence and run my VR simulation in automatic mode. Gee whiz, what amazing human actions and objects have been added to my serial killer simulation. Thanks AI, you're the best app a girl could ever have.
Tech as magic. Where is that blasted software wand, anyway? Ash wood wand with a phoenix feather inside, bounded with titanium ferrules - the only kind you can use for high tech magic. It will take four, bloody days just to do the cleansing ritual for Artificial Intelligence, and don't get me started on the ingredients. Then what? I have to ... No way! Skyclad. I have to do what with the bat? An old man, three llamas and miles of copper wire? For how long? Not the fire again. Not even on your birthday!!! Go. Go Now.
If you are going to showcase bleeding edge tech in your book, then do it right. Don't give me pretty pictures with VR, then move the plot forward through vaporware. Most people won't catch it, but it ruins the story for those who do.
Of course, as Dr. Grey is a psychologist, there is also quite a bit of analyzing. She turns her spotlight less on the killer, more on herself, her partner, Detective Leo Schulz and her son - and frankly, everyone with whom she has a meaningful conversation. Often, she and Leo are so deep in their own personal Lalaland's, they miss the most obvious clues on the planet, Janet Smack you in the face, obvious. It gets to be funny, how oblivious these two trained professionals can be.
You don't read this book for the plot, the obvious predictability, the inspirational words or the technology. You read it for the killer: call him Mr. Gray Matter, Bad Dog or whatever else. He's worth it.
The killer is my favorite part of the book. He pulls the story through, where all the implausible bits don't. If Hannibal Lector had grown up a dirt poor, Southern boy instead of a part of the European aristocracy, my very unprofessional guess is that he would have ended up like Mr. Gray Matter. You'll have to read the book to compare and contrast.
Leave a comment. Tell me what you think.
Shirley Kennett gets extra points for having an imaginative serial killer who selects victims based on their extraordinary talents, such as skiing, basketball, painting, piano and ballet. The killer is known from the beginning, actually from the first chapter. This is not a whodunnit, so you read about his work over multiple murders. The violence is not graphic, yet his unique personality makes the story.
Dr. Penelope Grey is running away from home, her cheating ex-husband and his new, bimbo wife; taking her son, Thomas, to start a new job with the St. Louis PD in a cooperative program where they will use her virtual reality simulation software and psychology degree to catch major criminals.
In 1996, VR was very much in its early stages, without much commercial uptake or ROI. There wasn't a 1 in a 1,000,000 chance you would get a police department to invest in VR without a finished product, product trials and a formal bidding process, AND a REAL NEED.
How many serial killers does St. Louis get in an average year? Not enough to support a dedicated VR program. What other crimes is it really suited for other than murder? Would the FBI BSU even spring for this in 1996? Unlikely.
It makes for a nice story to have VR used on a serial killer case, BUT, most of the early insights came from Dr. Grey's Artificial Intelligence software, which was mentioned in just a single sentence in the book. Now we are really out in tech implausibility-land here. This was written in the time of diskettes, modems and AoL. I just click on this software option, turning on my Artificial Intelligence and run my VR simulation in automatic mode. Gee whiz, what amazing human actions and objects have been added to my serial killer simulation. Thanks AI, you're the best app a girl could ever have.
Tech as magic. Where is that blasted software wand, anyway? Ash wood wand with a phoenix feather inside, bounded with titanium ferrules - the only kind you can use for high tech magic. It will take four, bloody days just to do the cleansing ritual for Artificial Intelligence, and don't get me started on the ingredients. Then what? I have to ... No way! Skyclad. I have to do what with the bat? An old man, three llamas and miles of copper wire? For how long? Not the fire again. Not even on your birthday!!! Go. Go Now.
If you are going to showcase bleeding edge tech in your book, then do it right. Don't give me pretty pictures with VR, then move the plot forward through vaporware. Most people won't catch it, but it ruins the story for those who do.
Of course, as Dr. Grey is a psychologist, there is also quite a bit of analyzing. She turns her spotlight less on the killer, more on herself, her partner, Detective Leo Schulz and her son - and frankly, everyone with whom she has a meaningful conversation. Often, she and Leo are so deep in their own personal Lalaland's, they miss the most obvious clues on the planet, Janet Smack you in the face, obvious. It gets to be funny, how oblivious these two trained professionals can be.
You don't read this book for the plot, the obvious predictability, the inspirational words or the technology. You read it for the killer: call him Mr. Gray Matter, Bad Dog or whatever else. He's worth it.
The killer is my favorite part of the book. He pulls the story through, where all the implausible bits don't. If Hannibal Lector had grown up a dirt poor, Southern boy instead of a part of the European aristocracy, my very unprofessional guess is that he would have ended up like Mr. Gray Matter. You'll have to read the book to compare and contrast.
Leave a comment. Tell me what you think.
March 1, 2014
I always struggle reading books that are somewhat "about" technology but were written years ago. "She fired up her modem and popped in a diskette." It just makes her crime-solving VR program a bit hard to swallow.
Speaking of hard to swallow, someone should really help her write sex scenes since I'm relatively certain she's never actually had any.
However, the decent storyline and solid characters (especially the intriguing villain) make it worth a read.
Speaking of hard to swallow, someone should really help her write sex scenes since I'm relatively certain she's never actually had any.
However, the decent storyline and solid characters (especially the intriguing villain) make it worth a read.
January 21, 2013
Some likable characters but an average and predictable story. Also, the technology references make it feel dated and implausible.
March 15, 2018
Technically a 2.5 star read. I received this book as part of a Humble Bundle a while back.
The plot moves along fairly quickly, however the resolution arrives without much fanfare and drama. The technology references feel dated from a 2018 perspective, but didn't affect my enjoyment. In fact, it established the story as a mid-90s period piece.
The plot moves along fairly quickly, however the resolution arrives without much fanfare and drama. The technology references feel dated from a 2018 perspective, but didn't affect my enjoyment. In fact, it established the story as a mid-90s period piece.
August 22, 2017
Morbid but good
August 27, 2025
Amazingly I enjoyed this book. Pretty gruesome but I enjoyed police work & characters.
January 14, 2013
After her divorce, PJ Gray and her son,Thomas, move to St Louis where she is to set up the new computer homicide unit. Unfortunately, her son is angry about the divorce, her new partner is a chauvinist and luddite, and, worse, even before she is set up, there is a vicious new serial killer in St Louis. Her boss makes it clear that this will be a test and, if PJ can't prove the value of her new unit, she might want to look elsewhere for work.
Gray Matter makes for an interesting thriller. Gray and her partner, Schultz work well together and Pauley Mac is a serial killer with brains - unfortunately, they originally belonged to his victims (sorry, couldn't resist the bad pun). My one problem with the story (and I'll admit is is an unfair one) is its age. Written in 1996, the technology used in Gray's unit was probably cutting edge. Unfortunately, it now dates the story.
Still, if you like thrillers with gruesome serial killers and smart female protagonists, just ignore the out-dated tech stuff, sit back and enjoy the ride. I guarantee it's a bumpy one.
Gray Matter makes for an interesting thriller. Gray and her partner, Schultz work well together and Pauley Mac is a serial killer with brains - unfortunately, they originally belonged to his victims (sorry, couldn't resist the bad pun). My one problem with the story (and I'll admit is is an unfair one) is its age. Written in 1996, the technology used in Gray's unit was probably cutting edge. Unfortunately, it now dates the story.
Still, if you like thrillers with gruesome serial killers and smart female protagonists, just ignore the out-dated tech stuff, sit back and enjoy the ride. I guarantee it's a bumpy one.
January 20, 2015
If you love Patricia Cornwell or Jefferson Bass but they just don't write fast enough to keep up with your reading, try Shirley Kennett. There is quite a bit of gore but it is matched by the very early stages of VR forensic science. PJ Gray is a psychologist who gets matched with St. Louis cop who is desperate to get back out in the field after his partner gets killed and no one will work with him. The characters are great and the supporting characters are equally well-done. The killer is just crazy enough to be scary but not so crazy that the things he does don't make sense - they make perfect sense to him and the author does a wonderful job of making that clear to us. The action stays pretty intense throughout the book and the end gives us closure on this case but makes us want to read more about PJ and the infancy of VR forensic science. Loved it and am looking for the rest of the series as this came out in 1996.
February 21, 2011
This is my kind of book! It had a believable serial killer with major issues from his past. The thread about the VR program helping in solving crimes is an interesting idea. PJ is determined that it will work and has a small team consisting of Detective Leo Schultz and his 2 assistance to make a go of it. Leo is a very real character who has a body that is aging but does not want to even consider retirement.
Diane
Diane
March 20, 2016
I love this book and have for years. It's now so retro but I remember reading it when it first came out and thinking how advanced it was. I love the realistic characters and the many person first person perspective. I will probably reread this book for the umpteenth time in a few years and love it again.
June 21, 2016
This is designed around a version of the buddy cop formula with an outsider (in this case a psychologist who specializes in virtual reality) paired with a veteran cop. It was sort of interesting, but the dated computer technology doesn't really matter all that much to the plot.
June 24, 2009
I really like this series. I just wish she wrote more.
August 13, 2009
PJ Gray #1
February 1, 2010
A good psychological thriller... but lots of "gore"
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews