In For the Kill

September 3, 2007
Shamus and Edgar award–winner Lutz gives us further proof of his enormous talent for crafting great police fiction in his latest, a deceivingly standard story that pulls retired NYPD homicide detective Frank Quinn back into action to help stop a woman-killing madman in New York City. The Butcher, who leaves the dismembered bodies of his victims stacked in bathtubs, somehow avoids leaving any forensic evidence, and it doesn't take much persuading for Quinn's old friend Deputy Chief Harley Renz to get the old detective on the case. Teamed up with an old flame, officer Pearl Kasner, Quinn gets in emotionally complicated waters early on—but things get personal when they realize the first letter of the last names of the five women killed so far spell out Q-u-i-n-n. And that's before Quinn's headstrong daughter unexpectedly shows up in the city. As the bodies pile up, Lutz handles the familiar situation—aging detective locked in battle of wits with brilliant killer—with characteristic finesse, keeping suspense taut, details gritty and twists surprising. Though his New York might as well be Anycity, U.S.A., Lutz has a thorough command of plot and character, making this another enthralling page turner.

September 1, 2007
The victims are dismembered, their body parts ritualistically stacked in a bathtub, with all blood rinsed down the drain. Semiretired NYPD homicide detective Frank Quinn is lured back to the job out of a sense of service and a chance to reassemble his former team, which not so coincidentally includes his former lover, Pearl Kasner. The case becomes very personal when the first initials of the victims last names are Q-U-I, and one of the victims was killed in Pearls old apartment. Nothing is what it seems, and even after a terrific final act, the investigators really dont understand what theyve witnessed. But thanks to Edgar and Shamus winner Lutzs brilliant narrative and shifting perspective, readers will know what the detectives dont and will be thoroughly horrified. Moviegoers sometimes hide their eyes during the really scary parts. Readers would do that while turning these pages, too, if not for the obvious drawback. A very scary and suspenseful read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)