Cold Killing

British author Delaney’s debut offers enough variation on the familiar detective-tormented-by-a-horrific-childhood theme to leave readers eager for the next in the series. Det. Insp. Sean Corrigan, in charge of a South London Murder Investigation Team, pulled his life together after being sexually abused as a child. That trauma has given him an advantage when confronting violent crimes, as his experience with human darkness enables him to “make leaps in investigation others struggled to understand, filling in the blanks with his unique imagination.” And Corrigan needs any advantage he can get in dealing with a brilliant killer who knows exactly how to strike without leaving clues for forensic scientists. The savage stabbing of a gay man is the first crime that brings the murderer to Corrigan’s attention, but it’s by no means the last. A contrivance toward the end will annoy those expecting a more intelligent resolution, but the permutations in the cat-and-mouse plot line work well. Agent: Simon Trewin, WME. (June)