Silent Slaughter

June 11, 2012
In the pseudonymous Lawrence’s serviceable contemporary serial killer novel, the fourth in a series (after 2011’s Silent Kills), a psycho known initially only as Edmund signs himself the Professor in the taunting notes he sends the New York City authorities after killing and mutilating his attractive young female victims. Tracking him are profiler Lee Campbell, who lost a sister to a similar predator who was never caught, and NYPD Det. Leonard Butts, who battles his addiction to foods that aren’t good for him. An autistic savant lends a hand by doing some number analysis. Smooth prose, including colorful descriptions of the time of day (“Outside, the feeble December sun slipped behind the old willow tree growing along the underground spring”), compensates only in part for a familiar story line and stock characters.