Beverly Connor, Dead Past

Dead Past

Beverly Connor

Onyx, Feb 2007, $7.99

ISBN: 0451412346

The explosion shook the neighborhood, waking up forensic anthologist Diane Fallon. The chemicals spewed into the air lead to a full evacuation. At the same time as people leave, an apparently stoned college student tries to hijack Diane's car; thank goodness for child-proof locks. However, not long afterwards, she learns her car-jacking culprit is dead and that the explosion was a meth lab, which Police Chief Garnett directs she and her Rosewood Crime Lab investigators to filter through in order to identify the thirty-plus dead students.

At the same time she digs through the ruins, a new employee named Juliet Price is shook by a real crime cold case TV show that awakens a buried trauma. Eighteen years ago, as a little girl, she watched a killer murder her family including her. However, the culprit made one mistake, Juliet survived the assault, but her mind shut down what she saw so that she could cope; that is until now. The only problem is the killer saw the show and plans to rectify the error. Soon the case of eighteen years ago and the meth mess will converge with Diane at the vortex.

The latest Fallon investigative tale (see DEAD SECRET) is a fantastic investigative mystery that grips the audience from the opening heated explosion until the final frozen climax. Diane is terrific as she juggles several cases, including that of her new employee Juliet. Few writers match the intense suspense of Beverly Connors, especially when it comes to her "Dead" thrillers.

Harriet Klausner