Blacklight Blue

Reviewed by Nikki Pringle for Reader Views (7/08) Scotsman Enzo MacLeod gained fame and recognition throughout Europe when he successfully solved two of France's most notorious cold cases. French journalist Roger Raffin, who is also the boyfriend of Enzo's daughter Kirsty, had written a book about seven of these well-known crimes, and Raffin's book was the catalyst for Enzo's interest in turning up new leads and trying to solve these decades old crimes. While he had planned to investigate the remaining five murders, Enzo's thoughts are driven elsewhere when he is pitted in an even bigger struggle, one for his own life, after being diagnosed with a life threatening illness and given only months to live. Enzo's focus is on everything but detective work until he is pressed into action when the lives of his friends and family are put in danger, and he is set up to take the fall for a brutal murder. Enzo quickly concludes that the person behind the mayhem that has befallen his family must be someone intent on keeping him from solving any of the remaining cold cases, someone with everything to lose if Enzo starts digging around, someone who has killed once and will do whatever it takes to keep their secret buried. After some research, Enzo feels that whoever is behind the attempts to destroy his reputation and his life is most likely also to blame for the murder of a rent boy in Paris sixteen years ago. With his nearest and dearest safely tucked away in the French mountains, the hunt for the killer takes Enzo from country to country in a deadly game of cat and mouse. What is not immediately clear is, who is the cat and who is the mouse? Peter May has weaved an intricate plot that does not fail to deliver. The novel skips back and forth in time between the 1970s, 80s, 90s, and the present day. These flashbacks are well timed and delve deeper into what is happening now by giving insight into what happened back then. May does a great job with character development, both in the background details he gives and the dialogue he has written for his characters. Enzo MacLeod is rough around the edges, but has a heart that shines through in the darkest times. He is the kind of man you would trust with your life, and you can't help but root for him to come out on top. The twists in the plot are many and "Blacklight Blue" keeps you guessing until its nail-biting ending.

Scottish expatriate forensic scientist Enzo Macleod has earned a well deserved reputation for solving a decades old cold case homicide (see EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE and THE CRITIC) as written in a true crime book by his daughter's boyfriend journalist Roger Raffin. Enzo has five unsolved cases left in order to complete his "read" of Raffin's book. Roger describes the 1992 Paris murder of Yves, but Enzo finds focusing difficult on the homicide as he has been diagnosed with terminal cancer with only a few months to live. However, the culprit knows only of Enzo's success and fears the forensic expert will expose him. The killer works behind the scenes to destroy Enzo including setting him up as a murder suspect and threatens his daughter and other loved ones. Thus Enzo is forced to investigate the rent boy murder. As with the two previous Macleod investigative thriller (see EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE and THE CRITIC), BLACKLIGHT BLUE is a superb cold case whodunit enhanced by the shocking personal health issue confronting the hero. The story line effortlessly moves back forth through four decades with the past adding to the overall drama. Fans of this extraordinary series will appreciate the irony that the killer forces Enzo to investigate. Harriet Klausner