Cold Case

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In this, the eighth Alan Gregory thriller, the Colorado-based clinical psychologist and his wife, Boulder Assistant District Attorney Lauren Crowder, are asked to assist a private organization known as Locard. Comprised of former and current prosecutors, federal law enforcement agents, and forensic specialists, the group (named after the legendary 19th-century French detective Edmond Locard) specializes in providing assistance to local police in solving "cold cases," i. e., unsolved cases that have been open for an especially long time.

In this instance, Locard is investigating the murder of teenagers Tamara Franklin and Mariko Hamamoto, two close friends who disappeared from their homes in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, one cold November evening in 1988. The girls' bodies were discovered a few months later when the springtime thaw melted the snowbank in which their killer had hidden their corpses. Because the bodies had been mutilated (Tami's body was found sans a hand, Mariko's was missing the toes of one foot), local police sought an opportunistic killer, either a serial killer or a drifter, an approach that proved unsuccessful.

Asked to perform a "psychological autopsy," Gregory conducts interviews with several people connected to the case, including the girls' parents, siblings, and friends. His inquiries also bring him into contact with Mariko's psychologist, Dr. Raymond Welle. Welle has also known tragedy: Four years after the girls' disappearance, Welle's wife Gloria was apparently murdered by another of his patients, the severely depressed Brian Sample. The crime drew national headlines and propelled Welle into the public eye, first gaining him a syndicated talk show, then a Senate seat. Suspecting that Welle knows more about the case than he lets on, Gregory doggedly pursues the Senator.

Gregory's odyssey into the past affects him in varying ways. Of course, there's the thrill of the hunt, the intellectual challenge, and the satisfaction of bringing a criminal to justice. But that's not all, as Gregory becomes involved on a very personal level. His many interviews bring home a hard fact to the psychologist, namely that human beings inflict great damage on each other every day. He's reminded that murder has a ripple effect, irrevocably changing the lives of both survivors and victims. Gregory's personal life is also impacted by the investigation, as he becomes the target of forces anxious to conceal the truth. Touchingly, his thoughts in moments of peril always turn to his pregnant wife, and how he now has even more to live for than before.

If I had to choose one word to describe this novel, that word would be intimate, in the sense that the reader's involvement in the narrative increases as Gregory digs deeper in his search for the truth. Of course, White pays a lot of attention to Gregory and Lauren Crowder; after eight novels, they feel like old friends. But White also lavishes a great deal of attention on the rest of his cast -- supporting characters are given sufficient substance to keep them interesting, from Kimber Lister, the somewhat pompous, agoraphobic leader of Locard, to family friend A. J. Simes, a retired FBI psychologist who, like Crowder, suffers from multiple sclerosis.

That's not to say that everything's perfect, however. For instance, the answer to the riddle Gregory faces is so complex that, once the perpetrators are revealed, it takes page upon page of exposition to explain their actions and motivations, causing one to wonder why they don't just shoot Gregory and be done with it. This is only a minor criticism, however, rendered inconsequential by the air of intimacy and immediacy White creates. Cold Case is an arresting, exciting piece of work, the perfect way to while away some cold winter nights.

--Hank Wagner

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Crime-fighting psychologist Alan Gregory untangles a vexing unsolved case of double murder in the Colorado Rockies in this rousing page-turner by thriller specialist White. Gregory is drawn into his seventh fictional adventure by a private organization of criminal experts called Locard, named after a 19th-century French detective. Locard, which reopens decades-old murder cases at the request of survivors and their families, wants Gregory to help reexamine a puzzling case in which the partially mutilated bodies of two teenage girls--Tami Franklin and Mariko Hamamoto--were found during the spring snowmelt outside Boulder. Gregory is asked to assemble psychological profiles of the girls, their parents and others close to the case in hopes of dispelling the official line that the murders were the work of a drifter. As Gregory's side of the investigation progresses, the finger of guilt seems to point directly at Colorado congressman Raymond Welle, a psychologist who was treating both girls at the time of the killings. Welle also has a shadowy connection to another notorious murder--that of his wife, who was shot to death seven years earlier by one of his patients. Gregory, along with his wife, Lauren Crowder--now pregnant and increasingly weakened by her multiple sclerosis--quickly find themselves in the awkward position of accusing one of the state's most powerful politicians of not one, but two crimes. The delicate, bookish Gregory and his enfeebled wife make for unlikely crime stoppers, yet White (Manner of Death) drives the story through agile plotting and fine characterizations to a clever, surprise ending. While his description of the Colorado landscape and humdrum details of his protagonist's daily routines do little to enhance the plot, his fans will enjoy the action and the way the series's main characters evolve in this latest entry. (Jan.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Even volunteer work proves life-threatening for Boulder, CO, psychologist Alan Gregory in the eighth novel in this series by author-psychologist White. Both Gregory and his wife--prosecutor Lauren Crowder, who's pregnant with the couple's first child--are recruited to assist Locard, a volunteer group of law enforcement and forensic specialists who solve old crimes. The cold case at issue is the 1988 murder and mutilation of two teenaged girls in Colorado's Elk River valley. Sensitivity heightens as evidence centers around Congressman Raymond Welle, former psychologist and current Senate candidate, whose wife was murdered in 1992 in the same area. The harrowing conclusion finds Gregory in a terrifying forest of toppled trees and at the wrong end of one gun after another. Once again, White spins a suspenseful tale involving fascinating characters and leaves some questions to be answered the next time around. A first-rate addition to an increasingly popular series.--Michele Leber, Fairfax Cty. P.L., VA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

YA-A long-unsolved murder case is referred to as a cold case, as is true of the murders of teens Mariko and Tami, found mutilated and buried in the snow near Steamboat Springs a decade ago. The investigative group known as Locard, composed of nationally known crime experts, agrees to open this case and calls on psychologist Dr. Alan Gregory and his pregnant, attorney wife for local help. Asked to develop profiles of the teens, Dr. Gregory sees his responsibilities widen as more killings occur and the cast of suspects increases. The methodical, detailed development of the story illustrates the often-ponderous routine of investigation and contributes to increasing tension. There's a rogue's gallery of participants-all brought to life with robust descriptions-from the almost-slimy, talkative, widowed congressman and the young, too-cool, golf-star brother of one of the victims to an irreverent, carping reporter and the agoraphobic head of Locard who leaves his home for this case. The resolution of the murders follows Gregory's terrifying trek through the Blowdown, a part of the forest where a powerful storm upended trees and left them scattered in precarious piles that could fall at the flutter of a bat. Wonderfully clever twists; secrets kept from friends, family, and coworkers; illustrative writing; and the statuesque Colorado Rockies add up to a "gotta-read" thriller.-Pam Spencer, Young Adult Literature Specialist, Virginia Beach, VA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|