Every Breath You Take

Coleen Marlo returns to narrate the second novel in Gilroy’s Christian-themed mystery series detailing the adventures of Chicago cop Kristen Conner, who juggles catching killers with working on personal and family issues. In giving voice to Conner, Marlo projects an engaging down-to-earth quality and effectively contrasts the character’s sometimes-tortured inner monologues with her collected outer demeanor. The shifts between private and public reactions nicely fit the spiritual themes in the material, as Conner seeks meaning in the chaotic world around her. Marlo—with her considerable acting talent and experience—gets the chance to portray dramatic emotion for several key supporting characters, most notably a troubled young woman who works as a high-price escort and finds herself the prime suspect in the death of a billionaire playboy. The narrator also delivers a memorable turn as the mother of a murder victim, who sobs hauntingly about the senselessness of her loss. A Worthy paperback. (Dec.)