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Somebody is presumably killing women. There are no bodies, but a bathtub full of blood at each crime scene is a pretty convincing bit of evidence that the women are no longer living. Trying to find the connection between the women is making Detective Angel Alves just a little crazy. Alves is part of the Homicide Response Team, run by Assistant District Attorney Conrad Darger. Connie has his own problems, not the least of which is a criminal he can‛t seem to get convicted. He‛s also interested in mentoring some of the new students in the office. Is it possible that his interest in more than professorial? EIGHT IN THE BOX is a reference to the number of jurors needed for one of Connie Darger‛s trials. After quite a bit of dogged police work, and a hint from the killer, it becomes apparent that all the victims have been jurors in the South Bay District Courthouse. So either the killer has some loose connection with the system, or is actually IN the system in some fashion or another. Yessayan has written a novel of suspense that works. The characters are believable, the setting seems to be depicted fairly accurately, and the plot is certainly serviceable. Without giving a major spoiler, I have to say that the ending stinks. I was turning pages quickly. I was fairly certain that Yessayan was pushing me in the right direction (or misdirection) in terms of who the killer was. I was hooked. And then the final chapters really ticked me off. Up until that point, I would have cheerfully recommended this book to people looking for a good police procedural, a suspenseful mystery, and a well-written book about a serial killer. Not any more. At the end, the author, pursuing the proverbial 'twist', settles for a cynical and amoral solution that left a terrible taste in my mouth.
Reviewed by P.J. Coldren, September 2008
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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