Death Offerings

Monroe Donovan is investigating the 25 year-old abduction and murder of her childhood friend, Katie. After being promoted to crime writer for her newspaper, she begins to write articles about some more recent serial murders, wondering in print if they are connected in some way. This action gains her the personal interest of the killer. Monroe wants to discover whether or not this man is responsible for Katie’s murder, or a copycat serial killer wanting media attention.
The investigation of the murders puts her in close contact with Lane Brody, a homicide detective with whom she is currently involved in a rather convoluted relationship.  As the investigation into the killings progresses, the murderer begins calling Monroe to feed her information he would like published. The killer has also taken a personal liking to Monroe. This evolves into an obsessive fixation on her, putting her in a position of danger that Lane would just as soon she not be in.
This is a good murder mystery! It is the kind of sinister and eerie story that can keep the reader involved in the investigation. Where the story faltered was when the plot moved away from a rather grisly crime investigation to Monroe’s personal life. There were far too many highly detailed personal interactions with some rather unlikable characters; all of which took attention away from the core of the story. The serial murder itself, and Monroe’s involvement in it, was quite interesting and well done. When the story stayed with the murders and the investigation into the crimes, it was compelling reading!

Faith Turner