Brian Freeman, Stripped

Stripped

Brian Freeman

St. Martin's, Oct 2006, $24.95

ISBN: 0312340443

In Las Vegas, Detective Jonathan Stride questions the witness, hooker Elonda who says the perp shot and killed her John; the victim turns out to be MJ Lane, the son of a Canadian billionaire and a celebrity of sorts due to an Internet bondage film. His peer Detective Serena Dial investigates a hit and run. They soon realize that the cases overlap though the link seems nebulous so they team up.

However, their pairing proves too late as another homicide occurs. A serial killer with a grudge has surfaced as the culprit methodically is eliminating anyone tied to a brutal cold case murder. Stride and Dial know they must solve the old case if they are to solve the current killing spree before someone else becomes a victim of a diabolical killer apparently seeking vengeance.

This is an exciting Las Vegas police procedural in which the two subplot investigations merge into an entertaining cat and mouse game with an avenging serial killer. Stride and Dial are a fine pair struggling to uncover the identity of the perp, but each clue turns into twists that sends them into a new direction. Though the ending seems abruptly disconnected from the preceding storyline as if it was Stripped from a different plot, Brian Freeman provides an overall fine detective story.

Harriet Klausner