Cold Blood

April 19, 2004
Efficient plotting and crisp dialogue mark Monsour's second Paris Murphy thriller, in which what goes around comes around in more ways than one. Set in the Twin Cities of Minnesota and revisiting likable characters introduced in Clean Cut
(2003), this disturbing novel focuses on the attractive homicide detective's pursuit of the creepy, drug-addicted Sweet Justice Trip, a serial hit-and-run killer Murphy once knew in high school. Trip was assaulted by Murphy's pals after he asked her to Homecoming, and he blamed her for the attack, later running his tormentors off the road into a lake in his first deadly "accident." Eighteen years later it's time for a reunion, and Trip's still having accidents. Playing the hero, he pretends to help search for Bunny Pederson, a drunk bridesmaid he plowed down and buried in a shallow grave. Murphy recognizes Trip on a newscast and begins to suspect her ex-classmate might be connected to that crime and possibly others. Murphy's working relationship with boss Axel Duncan (think Redford with muscles) heats up, suggesting further developments in the next installment. Monsour's depiction of the harrowing relationship Trip has with his father contrasts neatly with Murphy's organized work and more normal personal life, despite its romantic confusions, making this a satisfying, if not surprising, suspense read. Agent, Esther Newberg at ICM. (May 10)

Forecast:
Backed by a blurb from John Sandford, this one will appeal to fans who prefer romantic, character-driven thrillers to
CSI-methodical police procedurals.

January 1, 2004
Homicide Detective Paris Murphy is uneasy about the guy who so readily volunteered information regarding a possible murder victim, and it's not just that she knew him when.

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April 1, 2004
Forget Florida. Lose L.A. It's Minnesota that's heating up contemporary mysteries. Think William Kent Krueger and John Sandford, both of whom move their novels easily between the Twin Cities and the wild country to the north. Monsour's " Cold Blood " is almost excessively creepy crawly. In the second outing for St. Paul homicide detective Paris Murphy, the action shuttles between a celebrity-craving killer and Murphy's suspicions that the geek who asked her to a dance in high school could be the killer. This mystery is not long on detective work since the reader follows the itinerant salesman as he commits vehicular homicide on a woman, then joins in the search party for her, dropping one of her severed fingers so he can "find" it and become the center of attention. The reader also follows Detective Murphy's too-pat realization that the guy hanging out at this scene and the next murder scene could be the guy she turned down long ago. This novel's strength is suspense--the "Oh God, no!" kind--as Paris both realizes the guy is a killer and underestimates his willingness to kill her. Cuticle-destroying. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)