Crossing the Line

September 1, 2014
For readers who enjoy a low-key approach with detailedâeven goryâdescriptions, Molay is just the ticket. She does a fine job in this second entry in the Nico Sirsky series (after 2012's The 7th Woman). The story begins shortly before Christmas in Paris, when dental students examining the severed head of Bruno Guedj find a message implanted in a molar: that this man's death will be due to murder. Is it a gruesome prank? After further speculation and the discovery that Bruno went undergone mysterious behavior changes in the months before his death, their evidence points them to homicide. But the motive remains elusive. The story's rather grim framework is humanized by the attention paid to Nico's personal life: his love of technology, his relationship with his son Dimitri and girlfriend Caroline as well as the personal demons he must keep at bay. Still, by the time the case is solved, readers will know a lotâperhaps more than they want toâabout what happens when a body is donated to science .