Five

September 1, 2014
Austrian children’s book author Archer makes her U.S. debut with her first adult novel, a riveting mystery that centers on geocaching, the hunt for hidden objects using only a GPS device. Near Abtenau, a woman’s body is found at the bottom of a rock face with hands tied behind her back. Her feet are tattooed with a series of letters and numbers indicating GPS coordinates, which lead Det. Beatrice Kaspary of the Salzburg State Office of Criminal Investigation and her colleagues to a box containing a man’s severed hand and clues to yet another location. The chain continues, and further body parts become clues to the whereabouts of yet more victims. Plagued with a secret from her past that she’s never shared, exasperated by her ex-husband, and taunted by texts from the ghoulish killer, Beatrice is in a frantic race to determine what the victims have in common so she can apprehend the murderous game master. The suspense builds until the shocking climax. Agent: Carolin Mungard, Rowohlt Verlag GmbH (Germany).

November 1, 2014
Archer, an Austrian writer of teen novels, has created a series of gruesome killings in her Salzberg-based first thriller for adults. Beatrice Kaspary and her partner, Florin Wenninger, are called to handle the body of a young woman found in a cow pasture. The physician on scene believes she was pushed from a cliff, but that's not as interesting to the detectives as the series of numbers and symbols tattooed on the bottoms of her feet. They determine the numbers are GPS coordinates and, after identifying the victim, follow them to a wooded area where they find a geocache holding a shrink-wrapped human hand along with a cryptic note and another set of coordinates. As Bea wearily fights with her former husband, Achim, over the way she cares for their two children, she also finds herself increasingly drawn to her partner, who already has a serious girlfriend. Meanwhile, more and more body parts surface as the pair follow the geocaching clues in their attempt to find the killer before more people wind up dead. Though Florin refers to Bea's amazing deductive powers, she shows very little of them in this well-constructed if slow-moving story. Even when the bodies start piling up, Bea and Florin tend to pack it in and head home at the end of the workday. Also, Bea comes across as very fragile, almost delicate-not the type one would expect to find working homicides. The translation seems stilted in places, but the overall story is solid, and Archer ties everything up nicely at the end. Though Bea and Florin often seem to be phoning it in, Archer makes up for their lack of energy with an inventive plot.

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November 1, 2014
Austrian detective Beatrice Kaspary lands an unusual case of grisly geocaching (a kind of GPS-aided treasure hunt) in this combination police procedural and fast-paced thriller. A woman's body is found with geographic coordinates tattooed on the soles of her feet, leading Kaspary and her partner, Florin, on a bizarre chase. Following the GPS leads them to a box containing a body part and a puzzle, which they must solve to find the next cache. Luckily, one of their coworkers is familiar with geocaching and is able to explain it all, so readers unfamiliar with the usually tame hobby will understand it, too. Red herrings galore are scattered along the trail, as the body count keeps climbing and the overworked detectives feel the pressure to solve the case quickly. The somewhat stereotypical police detective Kaspary is divorced, married to the job, and has to deal with a difficult and demanding ex and the constant juggling of her kids and her work. Her relationship with Florin hints at a possible romance down the road and adds another level of interest to the story. Sure to appeal to Stieg Larsson fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

August 1, 2014

When a woman is found dead in a field, Austrian detectives Beatrice Kaspary and Florin Wenninger catch the case. They're used to seeing corpses in their line of work, but never have they seen a body tattooed with what turns out to be GPS coordinates. When they find out where the points lead, it's there that they unearth a container with a severed human hand, along with two cryptic notes. Florin and Beatrice are soon following a puzzling trail of clues, and even more body parts, with the feeling that the killer is building up to something epic. But when the murderer takes a personal interest in Beatrice, the tension immediately moves up a notch. VERDICT A single mother of two, Beatrice is a refreshing protagonist who isn't afraid to take chances in this first adult mystery from a noted Austrian YA and children's book author. Archer's very effective procedural, with some clever twists (and gruesome crimes), also explores the intriguingly odd world of geocaching, and those who inhabit it. While some readers may have things figured out before the end, the journey is well worth it. [See Prepub Alert, 6/16/14.]--Kristin Centorcelli, Denton, TX

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2014

When numbers and letters tattooed to the feet of a dead woman turn out to be map coordinates, DI Beatrice Kaspary finds herself chasing around the Austrian countryside, uncovering gruesome remains and more clues that lead her on an increasingly horrific scavenger hunt. Hard to imagine, then, that this is the first adult novel from a noted Austrian YA and children's book author. The red carpet is being rolled out.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.