Death grip

Chouteau County (MO) investigator Angela Richman is a busy woman. When called to the woods to check out a body, she finds a note in the dead woman's shoe. This leads her to the home of a local aristocrat, Briggs Belleville, who does not welcome law enforcement on his property. In addition to two more bodies found near the first young woman, Angela must deal with a dead plastic surgeon, a deceased woman whose daughters are fighting over her ring, and a traffic accident that has killed a high-school athlete. The bodies in the woods may be related to the disappearance of Belleville's housekeeper, so Angela and police detective Jace Budewitz search for her despite their bosses' orders not to pursue the case. The clues take them to dive bars and high-end merchants, with the medical examiner's new puppy proving to be a worthy assistant. Readers will enjoy the rural setting and the colorful characters as well as Angela's budding romance with police officer Chris Ferretti.

Early in Agatha finalist Viets's unexciting fifth mystery featuring death investigator Angela Richman (after 2019's A Star Is Dead), the body of missing high school track star Terri Gibbons turns up in an isolated wooded area of Chouteau Forest, Mo. Angela and her colleagues, Det. Jace Budewitz and assistant medical examiner Katie Kelly Stern, must contend with a formidable suspect in Terri's strangulation murder. Briggs Bellerive, the "most eligible bachelor" of upscale Chouteau Forest, can use his money and influence to sway investigators and townsfolk alike, despite the evidence against him, including a handwritten message inside the victim's shoe indicating he's the killer. Angela, Jace, and Katie wind up having to pursue Bellerive in secret for fear of their jobs and reputations. Meanwhile, Angela must deal with her feelings toward Officer Christopher Ferretti two years after her husband's death, along with her day-to-day case load. Since the murderer's identity and methods are clear from the beginning, there's not much suspense along the way to the predictable ending. Viets has done better. Agent: Joshua Bilmes, JABberwocky Literary. (Mar.)

Death is altogether too great a part of life for Missouri death investigator Angela Richman. Neither medical professionals nor law enforcement agents, death investigators occupy a peculiar niche in states where they serve. They examine the remains of those who die unexpectedly, suspiciously, or violently, collecting evidence to be used by coroners and police. Their job is not to investigate crimes, as Angela is constantly reminded. So she doesn't usually investigate. Not when elderly Ruby Davis is found deceased in her living room with her finger partway hacked off. Not when plastic surgeon Robert Beningham Scott expires behind the wheel of his fancy sports car with other significant body parts waving in the wind. But when a corpse found in the woods is identified as that of high school track star Terri Gibbons, who disappeared months ago after a practice run, it's hard for Angela to leave it be. Especially not when she finds a gum wrapper hidden in Terri's shoe with a note scrawled on it implicating a prominent landowner in her death. Angela's growing obsession with nailing Terri's killer puts her own job and that of her best friend, Detective Jace Budewitz, in jeopardy. Does Angela care that much about the demise of a girl she never met? Or is she using Terri's murder to tamp down her feelings about the passing that haunts her most of all: her husband's fatal heart attack? Viets produces chills with a murder hunt turned on its head. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.