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Itıs official. Dwayne Arnold Davis, aka The Bayside Strangler, has been executed. During the time that he was in action, five young women lost their lives. There were various signature elements to the crimes that linked them to Davis. For example, he would send the victim a single yellow rose with a poem, dress her in sensual attire and pose her body provocatively, etc. So when those same elements appear in a new series of murders, the authorities and public wonder if the right man was executed or if the new crimes are the work of a copycat killer. Owen Nelson rose to prominence as the result of the way that he handled the Davis case and is now the prime candidate for governor of California. Kali OıBrien was an Assistant District Attorney who worked on the case as well. She becomes pulled into the new situation when one of the other attorneys by the name of Anne Bailey who also was involved is one of the latest victims. Kali is at somewhat of a crossroads in her professional life. Most recently, she has been working as a defense attorney and had planned on entering into a partnership with Anne. These new events convince her that her future lies elsewhere and that she needs to assist on resolving the murders. Therefore, when she is approached by Owen about returning to the District Attorney office, it feels like a more productive avenue for her to follow. Kali works in partnership with 2 policemen who are first wary about her role in the case but grow to trust her when she proves not to be a glory hound. Lou Fortune is an older, experienced cop who doesnıt believe that women should be involved in police work. His partner, Bryce Keating, is a younger man; and he and Kali find themselves attracted to one another. They work together well to try to establish the links between the various murders and bring the perpetrator to justice. Itıs obvious that the killer is quite familiar with the Davis case, which limits the suspect possibilities. The investigation takes a turn for the worse when Kali becomes one of the targets of the killer. Overall, the book was quite satisfactory. There were a few areas where I felt that Jacobs could have done a better job. The first was in how she had Kali handle a personal relationship that was no longer attractive to her, in which the other person was overly persistent. It was inconsistent with her character to waffle in her dealings with this man; indeed, I would have expected her to be very direct because that is the kind of person she was. Secondly, the resolution was a bit of a letdown. The crime was resolved in a way that I didnıt find credible, and a major personal thread becomes tangled up in an implausible way. Jacobs did an excellent job on characterization, and the plot was satisfying with a preponderance of red herrings that left the reader guessing as to how things would turn out while ratcheting up the suspense. Kali is an interesting enough character that Iım planning on checking out the previous 4 books in this series.
Reviewed by Maddy Van Hertbruggen, December 2002
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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