A Bleeding of Innocents

A double murder and two coppers with scores to settle and divergent methods keep Bannister's ( Striving with Gods ) series launch moving at a brisk clip. Sgt. Cal Donovan of the Castlemere CID is assigned to the shooting murder of a young nurse from an old folks' home. Normally an intuitive bobby, Cal is recovering from the death of his former partner and superior officer in a suspicious hit and run that nearly killed Cal too, and for which he blames Jack Carney, a local crime kingpin. Then the shotgun murder of a surgeon suggests the possibility of a serial killer with a medical fixation. As Cal and his new superior Liz Graham pursue leads--resulting in several serious beatings for Cal-- Bannister keeps the suspense tight as a drum. Toward the end, a killer is revealed with surprising sympathy, and Cal, with Liz's help, fools the bad guys (and all but the most attentive readers) with a crafty sleight-of-hand. (Sept.)