Colorless characters and a recycled plot line undercut Hunt's third procedural to feature Lt. George Hastings of the St. Louis police (after 2008's Goodbye Sister Disco
). Assigned to look into the strangulation of a prostitute, Hastings doesn't get far on the case before a second hooker turns up dead. Those expecting a whodunit may be dismayed to learn about a quarter of the way into the story that the killer is a local surgeon, Raymond Sheffield. Eager to be recognized for his crimes, if only under the moniker “Springheel Jim,” Sheffield calls journalist Cliff Llewellyn to tip Llewellyn off that the two slayings are linked, that there's now a third victim—and that a public library book on Jack the Ripper contains a vital clue. Hastings is a competent enough investigator, but the reader has little basis to believe that without Sheffield's revealing phone call Hastings would ever catch the killer. (June)
