J.A. Konrath, Whiskey Sour

Whiskey Sour

J.A. Konrath

Hyperion, June 2004, $21.95, 288 pp.

ISBN 1401300871

Forty-six years old Lieutenant Jacqueline (Jack) Daniels of the Chicago police department heads the Violent Crimes Unit. She's dedicated to the job, but that cost her when her husband left her because she paid more attention to work than to him. She has lived with Don for six months but he dumps her for his personal trainer because she doesn't spend enough quality time with him. Jack suffers from a bad case of chronic insomnia but that still doesn't prevent her from putting many hours in on the job.

Jack knows with the discovery of the first victim, strangled to death and tortured post-mortem, that she has a serial killer. He calls himself the Gingerbread Man and wants media attention. His next victim is tortured for hours before he finally kills her and as with the previous fatality leaves the victim in the garbage can with her bottom pointing out. Two FBI agents arrive to help them profile the killer but they act more like Abbot and Costello than government investigators. The Gingerbread Man intends to make Jack his final victim in a duet dance to the death.

The protagonist makes this book a cut above the best in the saturated sub-genre. She is mature, with a wry wit and a delightful sense of humor. She knows her life is lacking balance but she doesn't feel sorry for herself. Instead, she takes the advice of her partner and joins a dating service. Her ability to lead her unit and walk the streets with them makes her a popular and respected superior. This is a first class, totally absorbing crime thriller written by an author who will go far in her field.

Harriet Klausner