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Summary
Summary
In Elizabeth Becka's latest highly suspenseful novel, forensic scientist Evelyn James returns to investigate a harrowing series of crimes--only to find that no one is safe.
Evelyn James is a forensic specialist in the Cleveland Medical Examiner's office who's juggling a demanding workload, a teenage daughter from a failed marriage, and a homicide detective boyfriend. And somehow she always happens to be involved in some of the twistiest, most challenging crime scenes imaginable.
This time around she's called in to investigate what appears to be a locked-room mystery: A wealthy woman is murdered in the penthouse suite of a luxurious, high-security building. The building's intricate surveillance system didn't pick up anything, the entrance wasn't forced, and the victim's husband has an airtight alibi. Cases like this, Evelyn knows, can turn on the most microscopic piece of evidence--if she can find any. Things look even trickier when another victim turns up in another penthouse suite. Then Evelyn's best friend is attacked--and things get personal. And when a third person is found dead, Evelyn realizes that the killer's choice of victim is anything but random. . .
Author Notes
Elizabeth Becka is a forensic specialist working with the Cape Coral, Florida, police department. Formerly with the Coroner's Office of Cleveland, Ohio, she has lectured to students and officers, has testified as an expert witness forty times, and is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Scientists.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Forensic scientist Evelyn James of the Cleveland Medical Examiner's office returns for this welcome second novel, following Becka's debut, Trace Evidence. Single mother Evelyn must manage her relationship with her sullen teenage daughter, her sputtering romance with homicide detective David Milaski and the demands of a job she loves. As the book opens, a wealthy woman is found murdered in a locked apartment; soon, Evelyn's friend and colleague Marissa Gonzalez, who lives in the same high-security building as the murdered woman, is attacked twice, and another woman is murdered elsewhere. Evelyn works with Milaski and his partner, Bruce Riley, to find the connection among the victims. In addition, claustrophobic Evelyn must collect trace evidence following a salt mine explosion under Lake Erie. Becka, a Cape Coral, Fla., forensic scientist formerly with the Cleveland coroner's office, keeps the details of this gripping procedural vivid all the way up to the harrowing finale. Fans of Patricia Cornwell's prickly Kay Scarpetta will find Evelyn a complementary contrast. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
A forensic analyst is steamrolled by what looks like rush hour for violent death in greater Cleveland. Heiress photojournalist-turned-philanthropist Grace Markham's wealth bought her an ultra-secure penthouse in an ultra-private building, but it couldn't shield her from the man who strangled her and carefully posed her body before leaving with scarcely a trace. The only physical evidence Evelyn James, of the Medical Examiner's Trace Evidence Department, finds on the scene is a smear of grease, a line of some waxy substance and, rather providentially, the killer's DNA. But the manner of Grace's death links it to the very similar murder of Lakewood socialite Frances Duarte and the not-quite-fatal attack on Evelyn's best friend, Marissa Gonzalez, who had the misfortune to live in Grace's building. Mysteries abound. How did the murderer bypass the elaborate security measures at Grace's apartment, and how did he make his escape? Even more teasingly, what do his many assaults--there are more--have to do with the loss of seven workers in a salt-mine explosion deep under Lake Erie? With a little help from her cop lover and an army of other specialists, Evelyn (Trace Evidence, 2005) tracks down the killer and ties up most, though not all, of the loose ends. Fashionable forensics, sound procedural work and a likable and believable heroine. Very reminiscent of Patricia Cornwell's early novels, before she went off the deep end and started sending Scarpetta against monsters in human form. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Called to the scene of the rape-murder of a wealthy, pregnant woman, Evelyn James, a forensic expert who first appeared in Trace Evidence (2005), is faced with a grisly locked-room crime. Before she has a chance to make sense of the case, her best friend and coworker is attacked in the very same high-security building, then again in the hospital, as Evie, exhausted, sleeps at her bedside. Although trace evidence finally ties six previous attacks to the recent crimes, Evie still can't help but wonder if the new victims weren't simply chosen by chance. Becka, whose own speciality is forensics, knows exactly when to switch from what Evie observes with her microscope to straight-ahead action. She also gives readers plenty of personal dynamics, as Evie's relationships with homicide cop David Milaski and with her 17-year-old daughter, Angel, both enter a new and different phase. Readers unfamiliar with the first book won't get all the background references, but there's enough drama and mystery here to let the story stand pretty well on its own.--Zvirin, Stephanie Copyright 2008 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Following in the tradition of Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta forensic series, Becka's sequel to her debut thriller, Trace Evidence, once again features Evelyn James, a forensic specialist in the Cleveland Medical Examiner's Office. Two women, with no apparent connection to each other, are found murdered in their immaculate and seemingly impenetrable homes, and a third woman, Evelyn's assistant, is discovered near death in her apartment building. There are no signs of forced entry and scant amounts of evidence and information. As Evelyn attempts to investigate, she also must cope with a lack of sleep, a teenage daughter, and a cop boyfriend pressuring her for a commitment. Although Becka uses story and character formulas not unlike Cornwell's, her Evelyn James character stands apart because she focuses on the trace evidence from crime scenes (and less on the physical findings derived from autopsies), has a more complicated set of relationships, and exhibits a good deal of humor and vulnerability, so readers can relate to her easily. This fast-paced, well-written, and entertaining narrative leaves the reader wanting the next book in the series. Recommended for all thriller and popular fiction collections.--Nicole A. Cooke, Montclair State Univ. Lib., NJ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.