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Police detective Carson Ryder and his partner Harry Nautilus work as the Mobile, Alabama police department's new psychopathological and sociopathological investigative team. When a body of a woman is found arranged with flowers and candles and with a tiny section of a painting nearby, they are called in to take charge. As more bodies are found with sections of a picture nearby, Carson discovers that the murders are related to a serial murderer -- Marsden Hexcamp, a well known artist, who is now dead for 30 years and who was a cult leader. They fear that a copycat killer is on the loose. In order to find some clues from the 30-year-old crimes, the police use the information that is given to them by a retired police detective from that case. They also are forced, because of politics, to add television reporter DeeDee Danbury to their investigative team. Unknown to the rest of the world, Carson also has one other helper, his own brother, a genius serial killer who is incarcerated in a high-security insane asylum. As they investigate, the world of the 'death collectors' becomes known to them. These are wealthy people who collect bits of serial killer mementoes, which include stolen items from evidence lockups, items owned by serial killers and such. In order to understand the cult fully, Carson and DeeDee travel to Paris to find out all about the members of Hexcamp's cult and more about Hexcamp himself. THE DEATH COLLECTORS is a modern murder mystery book; no punches are held back, no dark corner of an unhinged mind is unexamined. The writing is engrossing and the story is fascinating and well-paced. The characters, both the leads and the secondary ones are complex and well fleshed out, all with dark sides and a realistic sense of humor. Each character could have a book written about them. THE DEATH COLLECTORS is filled with original twists and turns as the readers are taken along for a fascinating ride and are rewarded with a solid and satisfying ending. This isn't the first book of this series, but it stands very well on its own. There are also plenty of reasons to hope that there will be another in this series, using these characters, and I personally can't wait to read it.
Reviewed by Sharon Katz, November 2005
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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