Beverly Barton Close Enough to Kill

Close Enough to Kill

Beverly Barton

Zebra, Jul 2006, $6.99

ISBN 0821776886

In Alabama, Adams County, Sheriff Bernie Granger and her counterpart at adjacent Jackson County Sheriff Mays search for the missing woman, Stephanie Preston, a college student married for five months and Mays' niece. They soon find what they feared her battered raped corpse. At about the same time they make their grim find, former Memphis police detective Jim Norton arrives as the new deputy sheriff of the Adams County department.

Bernie and Jim work diligently to uncover the Preston killer out of fear that the culprit will not stop with her. However, their efforts fail as a second female is killed with the same violent M.O. Though not yet officially by definition a serial killer case, the two law enforcement official believes that is what they are dealing with; so does the panicked county residents. As Bernie and Jim put in extra time together, they are attracted to one another, but both fears commitment having been burned by divorce and besides they must work together to prevent any more murderers from happening in their quiet peaceful community.

CLOSE ENOUGH TO KILL is an exhilarating romantic police procedural that cleverly uses the romance subplot to enhance the feel to the small town atmosphere of Adams County and as a contrast to the atrocities of the serial killer. The lead cops are a wonderful dedicated team and their respective family members (her mom and sis and his son) add to the understanding of the duo and especially the environs they investigate. With all that going for it, the bottom line to Beverly Barton's breathtaking book is her ability to hide the killer's identity in plain site, which rivets the audience from start to finish.

Harriet Klausner