Cruel Intent (an Ali Reynolds series) by Judith A Jance

A library is one of the best places to look for good books to read or browsing for authors we have never read before and this book is no exception.  J A Jance is the Top 10 New York Times bestselling author of a number of book series like the Ali Reynolds series and the J P Beaumont series.  You can find out more about her on her official website at http://www.jajance.com/

There are two categories of writers.  One that introduces the readers to a few possible suspects and leaves them guessing till the end and the other that introduces the killer and his modus operandi right at the beginning of the book and then goes on to detail how the killer is finally caught.  Well, this book falls into the latter category.

There is a sadist killer on the prowl.  He kills them, then takes pictures of them and stores them in a collection of DVDs where he can watch his brutal handiwork on his 52-inch flat-screen television.  The most recent murder victim is that of a wife and mother of two, Morgan Forester.  The discoveries of an internet dating website and a computer hacker sets the investigation off on a trot.  The major suspect is of course the dead woman's contractor husband, Bryan, whose marriage to his wife has not been all that rosy for awhile.  What is the reason behind these senseless killings?  Ali sets out to prove the innocence of her friend and major suspect while her detective boyfriend, Dave Colman, sets out to pin the murder on him. 

Jance writes easily and the story is full of twists and turns.  She writes admirably on the strong family ties that the Reynolds family share.  There are at least six other interesting characters in the book related and unrelated to the murder and all of them make for an enjoyable read.  It is also refreshing to read about a protagonist who is not a detective or a PI but who has a number of close friends at hand to help her out including family members.  Overall, fiction or not, it makes for a sensible read with references to identity theft, computer viruses and staying safe on the internet.  As this is my first Jance book, I must say Jance sure knows how to write a catching story and I will certainly be checking out her other books in future.  (In the end, Jance never followed up on the bloodstained hammer used by the murderer to kill Morgan and I wonder why that is so!)

To wrap this up, Jance talks about why she loves writing on this youtube video:



Rating: 5/5 (Good choice read)