Lying Beside You

In British author Robotham’s fine third Cyrus Haven novel (after 2020’s When She Was Good), forensic psychologist Cyrus consults with police when a man and his daughter are found murdered in their home. After the disappearance of a second victim, Cyrus begins to see connections to a fatal incident that occurred years earlier. However, when Evie Cormac, his bright but troubled ward, inadvertently interferes in the investigation, Cyrus’s ability to probe further into the mystery is compromised. Meanwhile, his own fractured past is about to catch up with him. When Cyrus was a boy, his older brother, Elias, then 19, murdered their parents and twin sisters, and after 20 years in a psychiatric hospital, Elias is now being released. Can Cyrus and Evie endure living under the same roof with a psychotic killer? Robotham does a good job infusing suspense into the well-constructed plot, but at the end of the day this series is all about Cyrus and Evie. While pairings of older male investigators with younger female protégés are fairly common in crime fiction, Cyrus and Evie stand out from the pack. Readers will want to see a lot more of them. Agent: Richard Pine, InkWell Management. (Feb.)