Stranger in the Room

Williams's debut, The Stranger You Seek, introduced detective Keye Street, a brilliant police officer whose drinking ruined her career. Now she is a private detective whose cousin Miki has been targeted by a psychopath. Street must overcome her skepticism (Miki's history of addiction makes her an unreliable witness) and hunt down her cousin's stalker. When she starts investigating, it becomes clear that the stalker is in fact a serial killer who, far from being a figment of Miki's imagination, is very real and very dangerous. Soon he turns his attention to Keye, and that attention may prove fatal to everyone she knows and loves. . Street is flawed and human, and readers will empathize with her struggles just as they rejoice in her successes. Williams paints a skillful portrait of the new South, as seen through the lens of an outsider/insider (Street is adopted and Chinese, and race relations are always an undercurrent) and her supporting characters are colorful and unique. Readers of this fast-paced thriller will be eager for the next Street tale.\t"Agent: Victoria Sanders, Victoria Sanders & Associates. (Aug.)