Shadows of Sin

Faye Kellerman

SHADOWS OF SIN is a gripping read, a nail-biting story of family conflict, despair and ultimate redemption.

Los Angeles Times

Crisp and compelling...suspenseful and satisfying.

Los Angeles Times

Krich knows how to make conflicts between good and evil juicy.

Romantic Times

SHADOWS OF SIN is a stylish thriller that grips readers from the start.

Publishers Weekly

LAPD Detective Jessie Drake needs bulging biceps to lug all the baggage that Anthony award winner Krich dumps on her in her fifth series entry after Dead Air (2000). In addition to investigating a triple murder in a plastic surgeon's office and trying to clear up another case she's distracted by her nagging mother, her father's erratic behavior, her continued attraction to her ex-husband and the pregnancy of her sister, a reformed child abuser. Then there's her budding relationship with Ezra Nathanson, who is instructing Jessie, recently informed of her Jewish roots, in Hebrew tradition. When Dr. Ronald Bushnell, his nurse and his receptionist are murdered, Jessie and her partner, Phil Okum, uncover a wildly dysfunctional family. After a nurse once employed by Bushnell committed suicide years ago, her husband was incapable of caring for their son, Ethan. Bushnell and his wife, Celeste, raised the boy with their daughter, Adrienne. Just before Bushnell's murder, he discovered the teenagers were in love and forbade them to see one another; Ethan fled. Although the troubled Ethan, a past alcohol and drug abuser, is the most likely suspect, his father, Celeste, Adrienne, a nurse Bushnell fired and a dissatisfied patient all had motives and opportunity. With a complex plot more dizzying than a roller coaster ride, Krich again delivers a well-written, though often repetitious, suspense-packed novel. The compassionate Jessie nearly becomes another victim in a harrowing finale that leaves the reader limp. (Oct. 1) Forecast: Fans of Faye Kellerman and Susan Isaacs should go for Krich, while the upscale L.A. setting and moody jacket art will help attract casual browsers. Copyright 2001 CahnersBusiness Information.

Library Journal

LAPD detective Jessica Drake (Dead Air) investigates the murder of a plastic surgeon and two of his staff. Suspects include the surgeon's former lover, his own daughter and foster son, his disillusioned wife, and the foster son's real father. An interesting puzzler. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

When wealthy, philandering plastic surgeon Ronald Bushnell is dispatched with a bullet to his head and another to his groin, and two of his staff are murdered almost as afterthoughts-or potential eyewitnesses-L.A. Detective Jessie Drake and her partner Phil Okum find no shortage of suspects. There's Bushnell's unconvincingly grieving widow Celeste; his daughter Adrienne, who fought with daddy over the unsuitability of her boyfriend Ethan (who had lived with the family ever since his mom, Bushnell's nurse, committed suicide when he was eight); Clara, a disenchanted client who was harassing the doctor; Barbara, a more recent nurse/lover he'd just fired; and his no-show last patient of the day, Clifford Bronte. Interrogating and finding all of them takes so much time that Jessie misses one of her Judaica classes and is late to light the Shabbat candles, while Phil makes little headway on another case they're working. Furthermore, Jessie's mom is lobbing barbs her way; her father is behaving suspiciously; and her sister, a former child-abuser, is pregnant again. Jessie's ex-husband, a crime reporter, will press her for a scoop, and her new suitor Ezra will decipher a clue in Hebrew that will lead Jessie to another of the doctor's liaisons, as well as to a suicide and a husband's enmity, before she wraps up the case. Jessie's fifth outing (Dead Air, 2000, etc.) mixes an unbelievably naive rabbi trying to treat sociopaths, a double dose of half-hearted misdirection, and a few genuinely peaceful moments when Jessie sits down for some religious introspection.