Lawman

Bestseller Palmer mixes aw-shucks small-town romance with cookie-cutter crime drama, but still scores points with a slowly sizzling lead relationship. Texas FBI agent Garon Greer is 36; having lost his wife to cancer 10 years earlier, he has recently moved from San Antonio, Tex., to nearby Jacobsville, where his not-quite-estranged brother Cash (from Palmer's Lawless) is police chief. The angelic Grace Carver, 24 and mourning the death of her grandmother, is the still-recovering victim of a childhood sexual assault, and Garon's next-door neighbor. As Garon tracks a serial killer who strangles his child victims with a red ribbon, Garon avoids Grace-who may in fact may hold the key to catching the killer. Romance fans will savor Grace's indomitable spirit and quiet power over Garon, though mystery readers may find the resolution a foregone conclusion.