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DEVIL AND LIEUTENANT HILDERBRANDT, THE
by J. W. Kerr
Holmes and Watson LLC, March 2001
278 pages
$12.99
ISBN: 1891668153


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

"The devastating nature of evil is that it can appear to be anything. It can be an angel sitting at your right side, an apple in the garden, or a friend kissing you on the cheek."

Considering this quote and the title itself, I was prepared for a lot of woo-woo and very little police procedural. Interestingly, there wasn't much of either element.

Lieutenant Anson Hilderbrand has a theory. There are are a group of supposedly unrelated killings occurring, but he detects a pattern. Could all these killings, nationwide, be tied together? The MO is the same, but where's the motive? Is he looking for a murderer for hire?

Connecting the dots seems relatively easy. As a matter of fact, the whole investigation is a piece of cake. I was disappointed to realize that the Houston PD, in this case, seemed almost omniscient when deciding which leads to follow up on. If it weren't for the interesting juxtaposition of the main characters and a setting that seemed bleak even in the blazing sun, I'd have given up around Chapter Three. And perhaps I should have. There was a bit too much 'Deus ex Machina' stuff for my taste.

Yet the author managed to keep me intrigued. J. W. Kerr, about whom I know absolutely nothing, has a way with words. I seesawed between thinking that the dialogue felt mickey-mouse to marvelling at a description of day breaking over the lake. This may not be a first novel - who knows? - but it is the first in series. I'm hooked enough to take a look at the second.

Reviewed by Jenifer Nightingale, July 2002

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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