Trouble in Mind: Collected Stories, Vol. 3

The 12 tales in bestseller Deaver’s third story collection (after 2006’s More Twisted) abound in shrewd detection and twists. In “Fast,” series lead Kathryn Dance and colleagues attempt to stop a terrorist attack. Another series character, Lincoln Rhyme, figures in “A Textbook Case” and “The Obit.” Deaver’s fondness for cons and sleights of hand is evident in such selections as “Game,” inspired by a real case involving the murder of a New York socialite; “Bump,” in which an aging actor agrees to a reality-show poker game; and “The Plot,” in which a writer’s death seems suspicious to his biggest fan, who’s also a homicide cop. Both “The Therapist” and the novella “Forever” pose questions about madness, genius, and whether what appears evil might really be visionary. As Deaver explains in the introduction, he doesn’t like loose ends, and he’s sometimes overzealous in connecting all the dots. Still, both fans and new readers should be engrossed by these lively tales of crime and deception. Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents. (Mar.)