Head Cases

In this sterling series launch from McMahon (the Detective P.T. Marsh novels), investigative savant Gardner Camden tracks a vigilante who targets serial killers. Camden—a member of the FBI’s Patterns and Recognition team—has history with the vigilante’s first victim, Ross Tignon, whom the investigator suspected of three murders in Florida a decade earlier. Though Camden believed Tignon died in a fire seven years ago, he’d instead moved to Texas, where a killer caught up with him. Before the team can make much progress on the Tignon case, rumors start swirling that their unit might be dissolved. Then another suspected serial killer turns up dead. With pressure boring down from all sides, the team comes to believe that the murderer has privileged information about unsolved serial killer cases—meaning that a member of the FBI is likely involved. McMahon introduces several clever wrinkles to this classic cat-and-mouse setup, while making the socially awkward Camden and his colleagues three-dimensional enough to sustain future installments. With pulse-pounding action and enough surprises to blindside even seasoned mystery fans, this is an excellent start. (Jan.)