Must be several years ago now I came across a book by Tess Gerritsen when checking out the books in one of my local charity shops which I do on a regular basis. I cannot remember which title it was now, only that it was one of her stand alone books, but after reading the first few pages thought Hey this sounds good so I bought it. I also purchased the other five titles by the same author on their shelves as I have made the mistake before of only buying one and then charging back later to buy the rest, having discovered an author I liked, only to find they were gone. And let's face it, if you are lumbered with half a dozen books you do not like, just take them back to the charity shop in question and re-donate them and we are all happy.
Anyway, no such probs here because I remember a happy few days reading, as I always do when I find a new author I like, as many books by Tess Gerritsen as I could lay my hands on. And there are a lot. They are all pacy, well written and fairly zip along taking the reader with them. I then discovered the Rizzoli and Isles series and this is where I think she really hits her stride.
Jane Rizzoli is a police detective based in Boston. She comes from an Italian family with its warm familial background and lots of details about her mum's cooking. BUT, the men in her family are the worst kind of male chauvinistic pigs you could ever hope to find and regularly reduced me to speechless rage. They don't think much of what she does and her male colleagues at work, one in particular, are also pretty sexist and unhelpful. Jane is small, feisty with curly hair and a raging determination to prove that she is as good, if not better, than her colleagues. And of course she is.
Her partner in this series and, later, a good friend is Maura Isles the police forensic surgeon. Tall, elegant, straight black hair and cool in her manner and speech she is a complete contrast to Jane. Her job is all she has, no family and very few friends and, as the series progresses, we learn why.
This latest title I Know a Secret is the twelfth in the RIzzoli and Isles series and, unlike other series I have read, do not seem to suffer that 'dip' in standards that I have spotted in others. It must be difficult to keep a fresh outlook and be interested in your characters but Tess Gerritsen has created two really interesting protagonists and the more you learn about them, the more you invest in them and want to find out about their lives and their feelings. Only good writing does this
So in this new title the duo are faced with a series of particularly grisly murders in which the victims die as portrayed in portraits of Catholic saints who were martyred in very nasty ways. As an ex-convent girl I can attest to seeing some illustrations of the ghastly things done to these probably innocent, people. I am pretty sure that children now would not be allowed to see these in case they scared the Bejesus out of them, I know they did me.
The deaths occur in different times and locations and it is not until Maura spots the pattern, ie the martyrs that Jane is able to track down the link between all the victims. It is a particularly unpleasant case of child abuse in a children's home some twenty odd years earlier and all the victims were, or claimed to be, sufferers at the hands of a family who were found guilty and jailed. But the hint is given that they were innocent and that the son, now out of jail, is wreaking revenge on those he felt lied.
All simple and straightforward but of course it isn't and the story navigates its way through twists and turns until the truth is uncovered. It is also left rather ambiguously open ended and pretty sure this is because one of the main characters involved is going to return. I do hope so.
As per, a terrific read and gave me an afternoon of sofa sitting and tea drinking as I gulped it down in a couple of hours. Jane's ghastly family are to the fore again and we learn more about Maura and her personal life, both these strands run through the books so though you can read them as stand alone I would recommend that if you are starting out on these, you read them in order.
When I first discovered the Rizzoli and Isles series I wondered why nobody had made a TV series about them and was then told that there was one in existence. It was on satellite tv which I did not then have. Later when I did I tracked it down and watched it. Utterly Dire and totally wrong. Two episodes and that was that. Shame.
So read the books - they are great.
