Hank Phillippi Ryan is a heckuva writer. After forty years of reporting for television, she knows how to make every word count. She knows how to tease her readers, how to make you think you know what's happening, right before she turns the story on its ear. She does all that and more in her new novel WHAT YOU SEE.

Jane Ryland, like the author, is an investigative reporter. Only right now, Jane's out of work and trying hard to impress a Boston news director into hiring her. That puts her at the scene of a very public murder, aiming a camera at her secret boyfriend, police detective Jake Brogan. Complicating the situation, Jane's sister is in the midst of a family crisis, and Jane is obligated to help.

Ryan volleys the plot between Jane's and Jake's perspectives, investigating one murder, then another; juggling the increasingly bizarre family drama; and Jane's persistent attempts to please her prospective boss. She also takes us into City Hall, where a bigwig and her daughter are caught up in politically charged decisions about surveillance video.

Video and pictures, in fact, are the very core of WHAT YOU SEE. Murder witnesses capture the chaotic scene of a stabbing, but will the photos reveal the killer? City staffers watch everything, but they have to make a conscious decision when to hit the record button. Surveillance is everywhere, but can you always believe what you see?

Ryan writes short, snappy chapters, giving us just a few minutes from each perspective, and ending almost every scene with a line that forces you to keep reading, even when you're on your lunch hour or have to get up in the morning. The result is a fast, intense read. When you think you have it figured out, she drops in a new piece of the puzzle that makes you re-think your theory. Finally, she brings all the seemingly disparate pieces together and wraps it in a bow.

And that brings us to the worst thing about a Hank Phillippi Ryan novel. Turning that last page, reading those last lines (even the acknowledgement), and knowing you have to wait another year for the next one.

Readers who've been following Ryan's mystery-writing career from the beginning will delight in the cameo she includes at the mayor's press conference. It sure put a big grin on my face to see it.

WHAT YOU SEE is the fourth book to feature Jane Ryland and Jake Brogan. You don't have to read the others to enjoy this one, but trust me, you'll want to. I highly recommend this series for mystery fans, as well as for people (like me) who work in the news business.