The Body and the Blood (John Jordan Mystery)

"In Lister's superior fourth book featuring cop-turned-prison chaplain John Jordan (after 2006's story collection Flesh and Blood), recovering alcoholic Jordan, who's begun to reconcile with his estranged wife, Susan, meets Susan's father, Tom Daniels, who's inspector general of the Florida Department of Corrections and a fellow recovering alcoholic, at Potter Correctional Institute, where a prisoner charged with raping Daniels's wife is incarcerated. When inmate Justin Menge, a key witness against the accused rapist, is stabbed to death, both Jordan and Daniels can attest that no one entered or left Menge's locked cell, making howdunit crucial to determining whodunit. Moreover, Menge's death came shortly after his sister, Paula, visited him and learned that he was claiming to have been the victim of a frame. Suspects range from inmates and prison staff to Paula, who was her brother's heir. A plausible resolution concludes this first-rate locked-room mystery. (Sept.) In this lethargic zombie tale, McFerrin (Namako: Sea Cucumber) confuses stalking for love and beautiful prose for a meaningful plot. When Erin Orison, a talented young dancer, travels to Japan in search of an audition with a renowned choreographer, she becomes embroiled in a murderous double-crossing conspiracy involving the Yakuza and the mysterious Consortium. Her brief affair with a Yakuza assassin leads to her apparent death and subsequent resurrection as a zombie. Somehow maintaining a measure of free will, she tries to escape the various forces seeking her, stymied at every turn by a supposedly lovesick corpse-hopping ghoul. The detached narration, passive protagonist, and oddly anticlimactic ending are symptoms of an overall failure to turn an interesting idea into a compelling narrative. The hardcover edition includes a 16-page manga not seen by PW. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright PWyxz LLC)