Pasadena Police Detective Nan Vining is back and
confronting the ghosts left behind from her brush with
death. When Nan's 14-year-old daughter Emily discovers the
bloody yellow polo shirt worn by Nan's would-be killer,
T.B. Mann, the harrowing memories rip open the never
completely healed wounds of her psyche. Still, life must go
on, and as a detective, there are other cases to be put to
rest.
Nan is back with partner Jim Kissick, working on the latest
case involving gangs, graffiti and shady schemes
surrounding the death of an advertising arrow-wielding
clown. More chilling is the fact that this case somehow
appears to be linked to Mann and his sidekick Nitro.
Meanwhile, Jim is also looking into similar murders of
women, like Nan, who killed men in the line of duty. A
sketchpad and pearl necklaces are the only things linking
the three other homicides to Nan's attack.
Emily is proving to be a handful, as well, carting her
mother's demons around while dealing with the difficulty of
teenage emotions and an unsuitable friendship with a boy
connected to the case of the murdered clown. Nan's
obsessive need to follow the clues she's been collecting on
her own leads her down a dark path; one that compromises
her personal code of honor and keeps her telling lies to
Jim and her boss. Time is running out for a happy home and
a future at work if she can't let go and permit others in
to help.
This story has its moments, but I wonder if I would have
enjoyed it more if I'd read the first two books in the
series. The characters seem almost wooden, as if they are
but marionettes being moved about a framework stage. The
prose, while at times full of moments of sublime
description, suffers from an overabundance of telling and
not showing. I found that none of the characters stood out
and resonated with me. Still, it is a compelling read and
full of possibilities. While the moments spent looking into
the mind of T.B. Mann cause plenty of chills, the plodding
path to the end of the book takes the zing out of the
story. However, Ms. Emley shows promise and I look forward
to seeing her future work.
Back from the dead. That’s how it feels for Nan Vining–a
Pasadena homicide cop, a struggling single mother, and a
woman determined to find the brutal madman who left her for
dead a year ago. Now, in Dianne Emley’s brilliant new
thriller, Nan Vining must face the truth: her attacker is
still out there and he’s killed at least three other
women.
She has given a name to her unknown assailant:
T. B. Mann–The Bad Man. On the job, Nan breaks rules and
steals evidence, building a case file based on the dead
certainty that T. B. Mann is obsessed with women who wear
uniforms or carry guns, that he hunts them and kills them,
then adorns them with a pearl necklace.
At the crime
scene of her official assignment, the murder of an ex-con in
a clown suit, Nan spots a graffiti tag and is sure, against
all reason, that T. B. Mann was there, too. But she is
fearful to share her suspicions.
Further complicating
matters is Nan’s developing relationship with Detective Jim
Kissick. In the grip of her secret obsession, she knows that
opening her heart means losing control.
Within this
sprawling panorama T. B. Mann reemerges, bringing Nan to the
sudden, horrifying realization that her killer has baited
the perfect trap. Smart and gut-wrenching, deeply felt
and passionate, The Deepest Cut startles and astounds
from the first page to the last.
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