(Disclaimer: this was sent to me by an agent.)
Someone's killing women who are clients of FirstDate, an anonymous online dating site. Detective Ellie Hatcher of the NYPD gets requested to join the case by a fellow named Flann McIlroy (a.k.a. "McIl-Mulder" for his ah, alternative theories on cases). Ellie's father was known for working on a serial killer case, so not only is she motivated to go after one herself, it adds a little publicity to the case.
It's quite a twisty case. While it seems like all of the various deaths are related, and by the same person, it's not a typical serial killer case. Two women were shot by the same gun, one of them wasn't even a FirstDate client, a third was killed and stalked in a very personal manner, and a fourth breaks the pattern. What the heck kind of killer is this? Adding to the fun, a retired cop that was involved in the investigation about one of the victims totally gives McIlroy bad vibes, and Ellie has no idea why. She also ends up fishing around FirstDate herself for criminals, but what's a girl to do when she finds someone that's actually promising?
I do have to give major props to the author for a well-crafted mystery. I really liked the construction of this one and how the whole plot worked out. I thought it was very clever. Four stars from me.
I'm quite sad that this is a stand-alone novel. I'd love to see a sequel to this, given how the story ends. I think that a lot more could be done with this character- she's got a lot of potential, and I'd love to see how she handles her past and her future.
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