The Burial Hour

by Jeffery Deaver
464 pgs  (Lincoln Rhyme series #13)

One of the things that keeps me coming back to Jeffery Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme series is the antagonist Deaver comes up with for each book. Each one features a killer who has a unique obsession or method for dispatching his victims, and it’s up to Lincoln, Amelia Sachs, and the rest of the team to try to outwit and eventually catch him.

The Burial Hour features on of the best in the series: The Composer. A man who live streams his victims’ deaths online as they’re slowly strangled to death. He sets his videos to an arrangement of haunting and disturbing music, which includes samples of the sounds his victims make as they struggle to survive.

After nearly being caught in New York, The Composer flees to Italy, where Rhyme and Sachs follow him and end up serving as consultants to Inspector Rossi, Prosecutor Dante Spiro, and officer Ercole Benelli in Naples.

This is the 14^th book in the series, and Deaver shows no signs of allowing the series to get stale or even predictable. The change of scenery to Italy from New York, along with the ensemble of new characters introduced this time around are evidence that Deaver has much more in store for Rhyme and Sachs. In fact, based on the last chapter of the book, it looks like the two of them might soon find themselves involved in cases with far more deadly and impactful consequences.

Can’t wait!

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆