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DiDonovan
, January 18, 2015
(view all comments by DiDonovan)
It's usually difficult to come into a mystery mid-series (The Law of Five is Book Three, so settings, characters and plots have been well established in prior books), but this Katie Reed/Redwood Violet novel opens with the discovery of a body in a cornfield, a situation that quickly involves Katie just when media attention is beginning to wind down from her last case.
Katie's work with the San Diego Police Department has more than taken over and changed her life, and she's trying to achieve some distance between her public and private lives - until a phone call from an old friend draws her into an investigation that involves the police department and an acquaintance suspected of murder.
All this is about to change (a somewhat predictable course of events) - but what is less predictable is the method by which the murderer draws in his victims, which in some sense includes Katie, who finds her investigative skills challenged and her interest in keeping professional distance from her work stymied. Having just faced down a terrible truth about her past trauma and its lasting effects on her future dreams, Katie is in no condition to confront a killer … but, she has to.
The emotional piece of Katie's recovery is one of the pieces that makes The Law of Five a winning read: it's steeped in past, present and possible future events and presumes no prior knowledge of Katie's life on the part of a newcomer. Descriptions are vivid and incorporate these personal aspects, deftly weaving them into the overall mystery and providing solid depth and background.
There are three facets to creating a satisfying mystery: strong characterization, interconnected circumstances, and intrigue. Weave all together and provide an attention to detail for each and you have the elements of a superior mystery story, capable of reeling in readers with emotional empathy and wrapping this psychology in a mystery with no foregone conclusions.
From clues that could lead one to question whether one killer or a series of copycats is involved to Katie's probe of her personal and professional lives, readers are carried along on an emotional and investigative roller-coaster.
That The Law of Five is a gripping psychological investigative mystery drama is largely due to Robin Mahle's attention to creating a protagonist who has survived much, only to find her past haunting her future happiness. The truths that evolve from her pursuit of justice will change everything around her - and readers, too, will be happy to discover this mystery stands well alone and requires no prior reading to prove haunting and involving.
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