Tara Moss Fetish

Fetish

Tara Moss

Leisure, Dec 2005, $6.99, 336 pp.

ISBN: 084395633X

Mid level Canadian model and forensic psychology student Makedde "Mak" Vanderwall, travels to Australia to strut down the runways. However, she receives bad news upon arrival, that her close friend Catherine "Cat" Gerber, who she was looking forward to seeing after six months apart, was hideously killed with the police unable to find the culprit.

Unbeknownst to the police or to Mak, the culprit has the letter she sent to Cat, that includes a picture of the newcomer. Unable to stay out, although Homicide Detective Senior Sergeant Andrew Flynn warns her off the case, Mak begins to investigate using what she has learned in school as a guide. While Mak and Flynn start seeing one another off duty, the killer hones in on her as his next target.

FETISH is a fine Australian amateur sleuth with strong police procedural elements. The storyline is fast-paced, especially when the heroine makes inquires, or when the villain takes center stage. Though the romance seems more like an unnecessary subplot that is tagged on to bring extra sexual tension between the cop and the model, Tara Moss writes an intriguing thriller that will hook her audience from the opening gamut, when the killer murders Cat and never slows down until the final karma is settled.

Harriet Klausner