Choose Me

The death of Taryn Moore, a senior at Boston’s Commonwealth University, whose shattered corpse is found on the street outside her apartment building, drives this so-so thriller from bestseller Gerritsen (the Rizzoli & Isles series) and Braver (Tunnel Vision). When Boston PD Det. Frankie Loomis investigates, her partner concludes that Taryn jumped, but Frankie is less sure, and her instincts are validated by an autopsy that suggests Taryn was injured before she fell from her fifth-floor residence. The police probe alternates with flashbacks that support both the possibility of suicide and of homicide. After Taryn is dumped by her boyfriend, she responds by sleeping with her married literature professor, who’s teaching a seminar on star-crossed lovers and has been accused of inappropriate behavior toward a female student. Implausibly, a distinguished scholar asks Taryn to coauthor a paper after a brief conversation, and her application to the doctoral program is so strong that the graduate committee waives “the deadline requirement.” The characters are tissue-thin, and the telegraphed ending won’t surprise most readers. These authors have done better on their own. Agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (July)