The Surrogate

In Carver's impressive debut, an intense British police procedural, Colchester Det. Insp. Philip Brennan and his team investigate the gruesome murders of pregnant women whose unborn children are cut from their bodies. In one instance, the baby may still be alive. When psychologist Marina Esposito, who once had an affair with Phil, contributes her profiling expertise, Marina and Phil have to be careful not to compromise the investigation as they did the last time they worked together. Though they try to maintain a professional distance, Marina and Phil, who was abused as a child but later found a loving foster family, are still drawn to each other. Meanwhile, Marina has found out she's pregnant; indeed, one of the victims was in her pregnancy yoga class. Tension increases as the killer's sordid secrets unfold. Carver never crosses the line into gratuitous violence, while myriad clues and surprising twists keep the reader off-kilter. Fans of Mo Hayder, Chelsea Cain, and Karin Slaughter will find much to like. (Sept.)