The Stranger Inside

Mystery writer Diane Christie, the heroine of this intricately plotted mystery from Jaynes (Never Smile at Strangers), has recently relocated from New Jersey to Fog Harbor, Mass., to give her family a new start in the aftermath of a painful failed marriage. It won’t be easy. Her 19-year-old daughter, Alexa, disdains her, and her 16-year-old son, Josh, suffers from an autoimmune disease, pulmonary sarcoidosis, which requires her vigilant care. One night, while working as a volunteer at a crisis center, she receives a call from a person who tells her in a mechanical voice that a girl named Katie has been murdered and that she, Diane, is the only one who can stop the killer. When three hours later the local police first announce that a college student, Katie Worth, has been strangled in her apartment, Diane realizes that it was the killer who phoned. As the body count rises and the disturbing calls continue, Diane is forced to match wits with a vicious serial killer. The action builds to a jaw-dropping conclusion. [em](May) [/em]