Intelligent detective on the case

Good old-fashioned mystery will please

By Kathy Habel

For The Free Lance–Star

HOW  refreshing it is to be able to add Jaden Terrell to the stable of excellent mystery writers.  She presents a detective of a different ilk, one who is smart, compassionate, and sensitive but can focus on a seemingly unsolvable crime and come to a just conclusion. Detective Jared McKean is trying to recover from being dismissed from the police force and divorced by his wife, while caring for his son who has Down Syndrome.

Jared is asked to help his nephew, Josh, who has been implicated in the murder of a charismatic man, posing as a vampire.  Going by the name Razor, this leader of a group of misfits and Goths is able to manipulate his followers into doing whatever he demands.  Something goes awry and he is found murdered in his home and placed on the floor surrounded by a pentagon of blood.   Josh, along with another acolyte, Absinthe, is one of the last people to see Razor alive.  To complicate matters, Absinthe has confessed to the murder and is awaiting trial.

The deeper that Jared looks into this case, the more complicated it becomes.  The author weaves a path through a myriad of clues that seem to lead nowhere.

If you enjoy mysteries and appreciate attention to detail without an overabundance of superfluous sex and violence, this is a book to read.  Combine it with its companion novel “Racing the Devil,” and you will have  good entertainment.

Kathy Habel is a freelance reviewer  in Spotsylvania County.

A CUP FULL  OF MIDNIGHT

By Jaden Terrell

(Permanent Press, $28,  288 pp.)

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