At the Stroke of Madness

This was my least favorite of the Kava books I've read so far. The characters were not as developed as they could be, although I do like how Tully grows later in the series, for example. I found the crime author name-dropping more annoying than anything else since no real reference was made to their works. And several characters were introduced as somewhat important, never to be heard from again. Sloppy work, but a decent read nonetheless. It did not help that the translation was not great.

Another nice read in the Maggie O'Dell-series. I like her, she reminds me a bit of Wallander. A lot of complications in her (character), but she tries not to let that get in the way of her hunt for the person she is hunting for.
This time the killer collects imperfections of his victims. Boy, how do you think of that as a writer! I found it to be an interesting read that kept my attention very well.

D.C. based artist Joan Begley already felt lonely when the only person she thought cared about her died. While in the Wallingford area she meets Sonny who she meets over the Internet. Instead of showing Joan kindness he abducts her.

Joan Begley is also seeing Dr.Gwen Patterson who has become very worried about Joan after she finds out that Joan has failed to check out of her room or catch her flight home. So Gwen calls her best friend FBI Special Agent, profiling expert Maggie O'Dell to see if she can learn what happened to Joan. When a body is found in the area, Maggie uses her vacation time to see what happened.

As other bodies are found it looks like a serial killer seems to be operating in the area. Maggie takes charge of the show more investigation even though her superior tells her to keep her butt out. The local Sheriff is more than happy to let her in on the case so she can be his fall guy if all goes wrong.

"All I knew about the man she was meeting was that she called him Sonny. Maggie's stomach gave a little flip as she took down the information."

"O'Dell. Even if we don't find your missing person I'm going to need your help"

I read this book in a day and a half. This is the 4th book for this series, you don't have to read the other books in this series first but it would help when it comes to understanding some of the characters history. Also the relationships between two characters. This book wasn't one of my favorites in this series but it was still a good book. The ending was a surprise. The villain in this story was definitely original. I don't think I can think of another book that the killer goes to the local grocery store to buy jars of pickles and mayo to keep their trophies in. So I can honestly say this is an interesting read. I truly have become a fan of this series! I can't wait to see what comes next!! show less

This was a fast easy read. Not real deep and the whodunnit person was almost introduced at the end (Not really but MUCH more time was given to the false leads). We were given 2-3 possible suspects by inference and the last one added was the first one released. I'd probably call this one popcorn reading, enjoyable but not a lot of weight.

Someone is hiding dead bodies in an abandoned rock quarry. FBI Agent Maggie O'Dell gets involved as she searches for a missing woman. Graphic.

Another great mystery. Equal parts funny and evil.

Op 13 september verdwijnt Joan Begley. Twee dagen later wordt in een verlaten steengroeve in Connecticut bij toeval een vat ontdekt met daarin het onherkenbaar verminkte lichaam van een vrouw. Al snel blijkt het niet het enige vat te zijn. Iemand heeft de groeve gebruikt om gruweldaden te verbergen.

Onbedoeld raakt FBI-agent Maggie O'Dell betrokken bij de zaak, die iedereen voor een raadsel plaatst. Want hoewel het er alle schijn van heeft dat hier een seriemoordenaar aan het werk is, valt er geen lijn te ontdekken in de slachtofferkeuze of werkwijze.

De vraag die Maggie echter het meest bezighoudt is: is Joan Begley de vrouw in het eerste vat? Of leeft ze nog en wordt ze gevangen gehouden door een maniak die nergens voor terugdeinst...