Down into Darkness: A Detective Stella Mooney Novel

While Lawrence, a notable British poet, is still largely unknown to American fans of police procedurals, that should change with his successful fourth outing featuring London detective Stella Mooney (after 2006’s Cold Kill ). Mooney takes on a gruesome case when the corpse of a young woman is found hanging from a tree, defaced with cryptic writing. The motive for the crime is still elusive when a second body turns up, almost decapitated, with another scrawled message. Mooney and her team work frantically to link the two before the body count rises, even as the killer works to complete his mission. Mooney’s complicated personal life is accessible to the new reader, and Lawrence masterfully draws out the tensions and freshens a cat-and-mouse plot line with sensitive writing and perceptive characterizations. (Nov.)