Tess Gerritsen The Mephisto Club

The Mephisto Club

Tess Gerritsen

Ballantine, Sept 2006, $24.95, 368 pp.

ISBN 0345476999

Called out on Christmas Eve to one of the bloodiest crime scenes they have ever seen are Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and Medical Examiner Maura Isles. It is also one of the most bizarre crime scenes because the victim's body is in one room, her hand is on a plate in the dining room and the head is in the middle of a pentagram with satanic symbols in it. The killer called 911 and Jane's enemy psychiatrist Joyce O'Donnell, who defense lawyers love.

Days later a second victim is found in a gazebo with inverted crosses carved in the wood belonging to Mr. Sensone. Joyce and other members of the Mephisto club are meeting at his home and they all have in common the belief that Evil (capital E) isn't just an idea but a predator wearing a human face although he isn't human. They have a lot of clout in police circles worldwide and when a member of that group is killed they believe they are being targeted by this Evil. Jane and Maura don't buy into their beliefs but they intend to do all in their power to catch the killer and put him in a cage because now it is personal: he killed one of their own and has now gone after Maura.

Tess Gerritsen has written the best books of her career and it is a sure bet THE MEPHISTO CLUB will land on all the bestseller lists. Readers will love the members of THE MEPHISTO CLUB and hope that in the future Ms. Gerritsen writes about some of their investigations. A fast paced plot, likeable and understandable protagonists, and an intriguing idea on what certain killers really are make this a one sitting reading experience.

Harriet Klausner