At Rope's End
A Dr. James Verraday Mystery
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- $18.99
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
Dr. James Verraday is a professor of forensic psychology specializing in eyewitness recall and criminal profiling. He's a brilliant original thinker with a passion for social justice and a very antagonistic relationship with authority, especially the police force. So when Detective Constance Maclean appears in Verraday's lecture hall at the end of one of his classes, he bristles. But the body of a young woman has just been found in a cranberry bog south of Seattle, and Maclean is convinced that this murder is tied to an earlier killing.
The Seattle police already have a suspect in custody for that case, but Maclean suspects the lead detective is knowingly putting away an innocent man to boost his numbers and quiet his critics. Verraday reluctantly agrees to use his skills as a profiler to help out with the investigation—if only to satisfy his own conviction that law enforcement is riddled with corruption. They form an unlikely alliance and soon find themselves tied up in a deadly game to find a serial killer whose wealth and influence make him almost untouchable.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Screenwriter Kay's intriguing mystery debut blends academia and law enforcement in what looks to be a promising marriage made in the name of crime. Det. Constance Maclean of the Seattle PD is convinced that the murder of a beautiful young woman, whose body was fished out of a cranberry bog, is the work of a serial killer. Clues are hard to come by, and because she's bucking a senior officer who doesn't put any stock in her hunches, Maclean decides to circumvent department policy. Turning to forensic psychologist James Verraday, a university professor, as a consultant is a definite breach of protocol, but it sets the stage for an enduring partnership. Both characters are single. Both have complicated pasts and even more complicated presents, and both share similar political ideologies, though Verraday is more liberal. Aside from rather lengthy passages expounding on topics such as criminal profiling and bipolarism, Kay spins a good whodunit with a juicy bonus twist at the end.
