Body Double

By Tess Gerrittsen

     While I have enjoyed all of Gerrittsen's novels featuring Boston Medical Examiner Maura Isles and Homicide Detective Jane Rizzoli, I felt that these two main characters were much more likable and sympathetic in this edgy suspense story. They are both tough, competent ladies in male dominated jobs, but they both showed their soft and vulnerable sides here. Rizzoli is carrying her first child, and Isles, a 40 something divorcee, is becoming aware of the relentless ticking of her biological clock...even, to her dismay, experiencing unsettling feelings for her priest.

     Maura is an adopted child who never knew the identity of her birth parents. She begins to question her roots, when she is confronted by the corpse of a murdered woman who is mistaken for her, by her colleagues and appears to be her identical twin. Detective Rick Ballard, comes forward to say that he knew the victim and may have some knowledge of the identity of her killer.

     Maura's quest for answers opens the door on a nightmarish family tree and a long dead pregnant woman buried in the woods. This is a story right out of today's headlines....madness, murder, greed, and even some romantic interest to keep you captive until the thrilling climax. There's lots of forensic detail, but not as gruesome as Kathy Reich's pathology.

     Gerrittsen is a master at characterization and her plotting skills keep you guessing and won't let you put the book down...she has become one of my favorite authors.