Blacklight Blue

In May’s dark, intense third mystery to feature Scottish forensic scientist Enzo Macleod, Enzo takes on his third cold case described in a book by Parisian journalist Roger Raffin—the murder of a “rent boy” 16 years earlier—but Enzo’s investigation runs into trouble after he’s diagnosed with terminal cancer and he’s framed for murder. Evidently, the rent boy’s killer fears Enzo will solve the crime if he ever gets a chance. May makes the French settings sharply real, while creating a seething tangle of emotional conflicts between Enzo and the people around him. By novel’s end, the overall plot, like the emotional relationships, isn’t really settled, which may feel frustrating—or may hook readers into following the developments of an unusually compelling ongoing saga. Those already familiar with the previous two books in the series, Extraordinary People (2006) and The Critic (2007), will be at an advantage. (Nov.)