A Killing of Angels

December 16, 2013
In Rhodes’s disappointing follow-up to 2013’s Crossbones Yard, psychologist Alice Quentin and London police detective Don Burns get on the track of a serial killer who targets financiers affiliated with the Angel Bank and who leaves white feathers and an angel picture at each crime scene. The police believe the killer might be a disgruntled ex-employee or someone who blames bankers for the recent financial crisis, but Alice suspects more personal motives. Still traumatized by the crossbones case, she struggles to manage difficult family interactions, a disturbed client turned stalker, and her fledgling relationship with Andrew Piernan, a charity fund-raiser with connections to the Angel Bank. She also senses a link between high-class prostitute Poppy Beckwith and the murder victims. For a forensic psychologist consulting with the police, Alice shows a surprising lack of insight into why she and others act as they do. The book’s action and its characters’ conversations are rarely given much context, and repetitive but elliptical references to the previous novel may annoy some readers. Agent: Teresa Chris, Teresa Chris Literary Agency (U.K.).

February 1, 2014
Dr. Alice Quentin is back, and she's involved in another series of murders, this time in the financial world. Police investigator Don Burns, who at last sighting (Crossbones Yard, 2013) was Quentin's foil at the London Metropolitan Police, is newly single and has slimmed down, toned up and quit smoking. Now he's knocking on Alice's door because the Met has a case they can't solve without her. This time, someone is killing off individuals associated with the Angel Bank, leaving behind a picture of an angel and a sprinkling of white feathers with each body. Alice, a psychologist, is brought in to assist. Soon, she is neck deep in the investigation and flirting with a new romance, but first she must move past her aversion to relationships. As the murderer keeps racking up kills, Alice's wandering, drug-addled brother, cold and withdrawn mother, and requisite beautiful and zany best friend are brought in to spice up the frequently plodding story. Many of the secondary characters are over-the-top, most notably an officer assigned to the case who dislikes her on sight and comes across as a cartoonish, sneering Snidely Whiplash. While the prose is adequate, the author often opts for the obvious over the subtle. The fact that London is in a heat wave, which is incidental to the story, is mentioned repetitively, as is a case from the author's previous novel, which is often referenced but never explained. Readers will find it difficult to sympathize with Alice when she elects not to report a patient who physically attacked and is now stalking her. Though the glimpse of London caught in the grips of a financial downturn and filled with a population trapped in its sweltering environs proves interesting enough, not everyone will find that the setting redeems the lackluster plot. A so-so outing that won't win Dr. Alice Quentin additional literary followers.

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February 1, 2014

Young London-based psychologist Dr. Alice Quentin consults with the police occasionally, helping with serial killer profiling. DCI Don Burns begs her to help on a new case even though she is still suffering from the last one (Crossbones Yard), which almost cost her her life. Now it looks like a serial killer is targeting bankers affiliated with a particular financial institution called Angel Bank; the killer's calling cards are angel-related art postcards, designed to coordinate with each murder. Alice's curiosity is greater than her fears, so she dives in. At the same time, a vigilante psych patient, who has made it his mission to protect Alice at any cost, is stalking her. As the serial killer's victims mount, Alice doubts her own sanity, making her profiling ability somewhat skewed. VERDICT The sophomore outing for psychologist Alice Quentin ranks high on the violence meter. Rhodes's menacing tone is overlaid with an academician's love of art history, and the psychological tension is huge. Don't turn the lights off!

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2014
In Crossbones Yard (2013), psychologist Alice Quentin suffered grave personal consequences while helping London's Metropolitan Police track a serial killer. A year later, Alice is wrangling with her brother's bipolar disorder, budget cuts that axed her anger-management program, and a former client turned stalker. When Don Burns, her partner on the Crossbones case, pleads with Alice to help with a new investigation, loyalty forces her to agree. An executive from the elite Angel Bank has been murdered, and the killer has garnished the body with the image of an avenging angel. The killer quickly strikes again, this time targeting a bank trainee, and the team races to halt an escalating serial killer. Meanwhile, in a great leap of faith, Alice begins dating a charming philanthropist, but his connections to Angel Bank threaten to return her to the dark place she's just managed to leave behind. Poet Rhodes crafts a mighty turn of phrase, and her multilayered characterization makes for an engaging read, but occasionally predictable plotting will frustrate sticklers for a challenging puzzle.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)