Over Tumbled Graves

February 1, 2001
Shifting ably to fiction, true crime specialist Walter (In Contempt; Every Knee Shall Bow), turns out a strong, character-driven serial-killer thriller. In Spokane, Wash., a handful of homicide investigators watch helplessly as one prostitute after another is found murdered in a downtown park. Sgt. Alan Dupree, an old-style cop who eschews modern police investigative methods like criminal profiling, initially leads the team. As the so-called Southbank Killer's death toll rises, Dupree is replaced by Chris Spivey, an arrogant upstart with great academic credentials but no street savvy. Spivey brings in two nationally known serial-killer profilers, who waste precious time belittling each other personally and professionally while drawing up what are essentially boilerplate profiles. Spivey also recruits Det. Caroline Mabry, a hard-working investigator who manages to rise above squad-room politics and disagreements about how the case should be handled. Mabry is a complex character, suffering from a raft of personal problems as well as career doubts. She and Dupree finally uncover evidence that the whole investigation has been built on a faulty premise. Unlike many entries in the serial killer category, Walter's stays fresh by placing character development above shock value. His focus is on the human side of police work, not on the killer and his ghoulish behavior. (Feb.) Forecasts: A rave endorsement from James Patterson, who's not nearly as blurb-happy as is, say, Stephen King, could go a ways in making readers take notice of this fine first novel.

February 15, 2001
In this debut novel about a serial killer, reporter and nonfiction author Walter (Every Knee Shall Bow) displays his knowledge, from police procedure to forensics. The body count in Spokane suddenly spirals out of control when a drug dealer, an old man, and a pawnbroker are killed in quick succession. Soon police turn up the bodies of one prostitute after another, each clutching two $20 bills. Working the case and haunted by it, Detective Caroline Mabry has her own problems to deal with: a shooting six years earlier, relationships both actual (with a man 12 years her junior) and potential (with her older, married mentor), and her mother's death. As the special taskforce circles in on one killer, Mabry begins to question the one-suspect-fits-all theory. The book features signature serial murders, a strong female protagonist who doesn't call for backup, relationships gone awry, even dueling profilers, but it's a little short on suspense and subtlety. Walter ties everything together neatly at the end, but in this case less would have made a more satisfying thriller. A marginal purchase. Michele Leber, Fairfax Cty. P.L., VA

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2001
Caroline Mabry is a Spokane, Washington, police detective who is contending with a serial killer, a dying mother, a much younger lover, and an unconsummated 10-year relationship with a married detective. Dead prostitutes are turning up regularly with a signature: two 20-dollar bills wrapped in their hands. A publicity-seeking FBI criminal profiler makes portentous public pronouncements replete with psychosexual motives, but Mabry and her shoulda-been lover, Sergeant Alan Dupree, target Lenny Ryan, an ex-con whose hooker girlfriend was murdered while he was doing time. Complicating the case is a neighborhood gentrification program that hinges in part on a cleanup of street life, meaning hookers and drug users. Walter collaborated with attorney Christopher Darden on the best-selling "In Contempt" (1996)" "and has reported on serial killings for the "Washington "Post. His first novel is an accomplished character study of Detective Mabry that will appeal especially to fans of T. Jefferson Parker. Crime exists as a vehicle for the core of the story: Mabry's struggle to find peace in a world filled with death, heartbreak, and greed. A very satisfying debut. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)