Murder Canyon
By Joan Blacher 

       Ardis Jensen has taken on a calmer, easier lifestyle. She has given up her job as a forensic psychologist for the LA County Sheriff's office and has become a counselor on a small college campus called Clarion--no more terrible nights investigating murder scenes and wondering if each one is the work of a serial killer.

     So Ardis thought. One week before a new semester begins, the mutilated remains of a body is found just a short walk from Ardis's Casquez Canyon home. Is the body a total stranger or a student from the college? Is the killer a stranger passing through, or one of Ardis's own troubled clients?

     Soon Ardis finds herself enmeshed in the investigation and she suspects everyone in sight. As she uncovers first one ugly secret and then another, her life gets more and more complicated, and then the killer sets his eyes on her.

     This book was an enjoyable read, with the killer keeping his identity well-hidden until very close to the end. I had my suspicions, but was not sure until the identity was made to the reader. I would enjoy other books using this sensitive woman as the heroine.