PLAY DEAD

TITLE: PLAY DEAD
AUTHOR: RICHARD MONTANARI
Pages: 398
Date: 19/07/2009
Grade: 5
Details: no. 4 Kevin Byrne & Jessica Balzano Mystery
Own

I do love this series of books. Montanari writes wonderfully dark thrillers without getting too graphic when it comes to the actual violence while at the same time perfectly bringing across the horror of what's happening. His two main characters have from the start felt very real to me, and do so even more with every subsequent book. They both have their good and darker sides, and display very human and recognizable emotions and reactions.
The book starts with Byrne and Balzano starting work on a cold case involving the murder of a young runaway girl whose body was subsequently left to be found in a glass case. It isn't long though until the cold case turns very hot when more murdered young girls are found, all left in posed positions somewhere. And the murderer appears to be playing a game with the investigators, leaving them obscure clues to follow.
Soon, they are facing a race against time in an effort to prevent even more girls from losing their lives in the horrible game the murderer appears to be playing.
To the reader it's clear fairly early on in the book who the murderer is, something I usually dislike. However, in this book it didn't bother me. The investigation and the ultimate race, as well as a mysterious young woman where more then enough intrigue to keep me turning the pages.
I hope there will be more books in this series.