The Reckoning on Cane Hill

In the stark prologue of Mosby’s stunning, intricately plotted police procedural, Det. David Groves identifies the body of his nearly three-year-old son, Jamie, lying in a pit in the woods in an unspecified part of England. A second major plot line strikes a somewhat lighter note: Det. Mark Nelson, as punishment for “drunken transgressions” at his engagement party attended by his fellow cops, must interview a young woman claiming to be Charlotte “Charlie” Matheson, who died two years earlier in a car crash. When Mark sees Charlie’s mutilated face, he knows immediately that this is no laughing matter. The two stories proceed separately, seemingly unrelated. David is taunted by his son’s killer, while Mark quickly comes to the conclusion that the “dead” woman is who she says she is. Looming over Mark’s case is the specter of a serial killer who has long since died. When Mosby (The Nightmare Place) finally begins to connect the dots, readers will be blown away. Agent: Carolyn Whitaker, London Independent Books (U.K.). (Sept.)