Trouble in Mind: The Collected Stories, Vol. 3

This multinarrator effort enlivens the masterful plot twists in Deaver’s 12 stories. Among the stories, “Fast” finds investigator Kathryn Dance in a battle of wits with a playful terrorist who won’t reveal the whereabouts of a bomb planted in Monterrey, Calif. Narrator Kate Reading does a splendid job of increasing the suspense as the clock ticks. Keith Szarabajka lends a gruff, hardboiled tone to a high-stakes celebrity poker game in “Bump.” Dennis Boutsikaris delivers crisp renditions of two yarns featuring the author’s most popular hero, Lincoln Rhyme: “A Textbook Case,” in which a canny killer checkmates the brilliant paraplegic sleuth’s penchant for finding clues by emptying cans of garbage over the crime scene; and “The Obit,” in which Deaver finds a unique way of providing readers with a detailed dossier on Rhyme. Boutsikaris also is responsible for the jaunty vocal mood that permeates “Forever,” a novella that is the collection’s longest, last, and, arguably, best entry. A Hachette hardcover. (Mar.)