Pattern of Wounds

Det. Roland March returns in this gritty and chilling mystery. A woman is conspicuously killed in a Houston suburb and the killer's "creativity" brings back memories for March. Ten years before, a bestselling book detailed a murder he worked on that is all too similar to the circumstances surrounding this woman's gruesome death. Is it merely a coincidence or is a copy cat on the loose? As the bodies begin to pile up, March even begins to wonder if he put the wrong guy away a decade ago. Bertrand (Back on Murder) gives readers wise-cracking detectives, creepy homicide particulars, and clever clues; however, the book often reads more like a television script than a novel. Die-hard detective story fans will most likely recognize and appreciate the book's familiar plot-driven style. Christian readers in particular may enjoy the religious elements that Bertrand shrewdly sprinkles throughout the book. (July)