Body Double

Starred review from June 21, 2004
A starred review indicates a book of outstanding quality. A review with a blue-tinted title indicates a book of unusual commercial interest that hasn't received a starred review
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BODY DOUBLE
Tess Gerritsen
. Ballantine
, $24.95 (352p) ISBN 0-345-45893-1

Pregnant women play key roles in this bone-chilling fourth novel in Gerritsen's edgy, suspenseful series of thrillers featuring Boston Medical Examiner Maura Isles and Homicide Detective Jane Rizzoli. Both of the usually gritty crime fighters are uncharacteristically vulnerable. Rizzoli is carrying her first child, and Isles—divorced and alone at age 40 and suddenly, unsettlingly aware of her biological clock—is experiencing decidedly unspiritual feelings for her priest. As the novel begins, Isles—an adopted child who never knew the identity of her birth parents—is confronted by the corpse of a murdered woman who is apparently her identical twin. Another detective, Rick Ballard, comes forward to say that he knew the victim and is certain her killer is a powerful pharmaceutical baron known to have stalked her. Isles falls for the handsome Ballard, but she isn't convinced by his theory, and she launches an investigation into her sister's past, following the trail to a state correctional facility and a schizophrenic inmate who may be her mother. This opens the cobwebbed pages of a nightmarish family album and leads Isles to a remote cabin in Maine where the long-dead body of a pregnant woman is discovered buried in the woods. The killer, Isles discovers, has been murdering pregnant women for decades, making periodic sweeps of the country. Meanwhile, brief scenes chronicle the diabolical kidnapping of an affluent pregnant housewife who is kept buried in a crude coffin. An electric series of startling twists, the revelation of ghoulishly practical motives and a nail-biting finale make this Gerritsen's best to date. Agent, Meg Ruley.
6-city author tour.

April 1, 2004
Shockingly, the woman sitting in a car in Boston medical examiner Maura Isles's driveway is a dead ringer for Isles herself. She's certainly dead, and she's the identical twin Isles never knew she had. With a six-city author tour.

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2004
Last seen in " The Sinner" (2003), medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles has just returned from a trip to France to encounter a grisly discovery. A woman has been found shot to death in front of her home, and the woman is a dead ringer for Maura. The woman, whose name is Anna Leoni, turns out to be Maura's twin; both were given up for adoption 40 years ago. The mystery deepens when Officer Rick Ballard shows up and tells Maura and Detective Jane Rizzoli that Anna was on the run from an abusive boyfriend and under police protection. But that still doesn't answer the question of what led Anna to Maura's door, and that question leads Maura to trace her sister's steps to an old house in Maine. Things get even more perplexing when decades-old human bones are found nearby. The human remains lead Maura to her birth mother, Amalthea Lank, who is now in jail for the brutal murder of two women. Maura is unsure whether and how her mother is connected to Anna's death, and she's confused by her growing feelings for Rick, who may have been in love with her sister. Gerritsen's latest taut thriller is sure to appeal to fans who have followed Rizzoli and Isle's previous adventures.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)