Die with Me

I won't try to match the three excellent detailed reviews already posted. I'll just add that I was in a rush last week when I stopped by the library, and hurriedly chose four promising-sounding (from the jacket blurbs) books from the "New Mysteries" shelf. The first three I read a few pages of and put right back in the tote bag to return. "Die With Me" I just finished, and it held my rapt attention from first page to last. Good atmosphere, believable characters, perfect plausibility, seamlessly literate writing. I was astonished to learn that it's a first novel. I hope Ms. Forbes has many more in her. I'll be watching for them.

To my mind, one of the most important aspects of whether an ongoing mystery series succeeds or fails is if readers are, ultimately, just as compelled by the inner struggles and interpersonal relationships among its protagonists as they are by the mystery plot itself. After all, these police officers and detectives are the ones readers will have to spend time with, book after book. If they're not interesting, what's the point? Based on her first novel, promising new author Elena Forbes is one mystery writer who agrees with me. Featuring not only a charismatic, elusive serial killer but also a complex cast of investigators, each of whom carries his or her own compelling story, DIE WITH ME is a first-class introduction to what I can only hope will be a first-rate series. At the center of the investigation is a mysterious killer named "Tom," a charming, handsome stranger who engages in suicide pacts with young, emotionally vulnerable women. When they meet to kill themselves, only one of them ends up dying --- usually drugged by Tom and hurled to fall to her death. As for Tom, he walks away, emotionally charged by the act of committing murder and already plotting to find his next victim. Assigned to the case is London detective Mark Tartaglia, a jaded investigator who has been trying to cope with the facts that his superior officer is in a coma and has been replaced by Carolyn Steele, an attractive, confident but sometimes abrasive investigator who is a little too close to the psychological profiler who has been assigned to the case, a pompous jerk with whom Tartaglia has clashed on a previous case. He is also sorting out his feelings about medical examiner Fiona Blake, with whom he had a one-night stand weeks ago. Tartaglia's partner, Samantha (Sam) Donovan, has picked up on Tartaglia and Blake's attraction for one another --- and she's trying not to let her own disappointment over these developments cloud her work on the case. A sharp investigator, Donovan is also single and lonely --- a combination that might lead to heartache...or worse. Rounding out the staff of investigators are several other secondary characters, each of whom adds his or her own personality and perspective to the problem at hand. Even as the officers run into a series of brick walls, red herrings and missed opportunities as they attempt to track down Tom, readers are drawn into not only the search for the killer but also into the behind-the-scenes intrigues and conflicts that develop during the investigation. For those who, as I did, get drawn up in these characters' lives and work, there's good news. Forbes skillfully combines an open-ended narrative with just enough closure to satisfy ardent mystery fans. Given the number of unanswered questions, though, not to mention the ominous, forward-looking ending, it's clear that Forbes intends to explore her compelling cast of characters in what promises to be a gripping ongoing series. I can't wait for the next one. --

Bringing the wet and chilly streets of London to life, author Elena Forbes, in her debut suspense novel Die With Me, introduces a crack group of police investigators who are called upon to investigate a series of suspect suicides in the West London suburb of Barnes. The novel begins with a meeting in a neglected church where an older man meets a teenage girl and where, in the cold and wintry light of the evening, he promises to her that "we're in this together, just you and I." Frantically lapping up his words about love and about death, and also opening a veritable floodgate of confession and neediness, this unidentified man can barely contain himself when this young girl finally becomes his. Meanwhile, Detective Inspector Mark Tartaglia is set adrift after his boss and friend Trevor Clark has been hospitalized after a motorcycle accident. Stretched out in bed and in a coma and obviously out of action for the foreseeable future, Trevor can do little to assuage Mark's insecurities at becoming the acting Senior Investigating Officer. But before he can even stop to take a breath, Mark is called, together with his trusted colleague Sam Donovan, to the scene of a suspicious death. The victim is a fourteen-year-old girl by the name of Gemma Kramer, who supposedly fell from the organ gallery inside St, Sebastian's church two days ago. At first, Ealing CID initially assumed it was an accident or a suicide, as they didn't find anything suspicious. After a pretty cursory forensic exam of the ground floor, the crime scene was released. But just after the church was cleaned up and re-opened for business, a witness suddenly materialized out of the woodwork saying she saw the girl going into the church with a man a couple of hours before her body was found and they were clearly seen kissing outside. Upon closer examination, the whole incident seems to have been carefully prepared with lit candles and burning incense, and then the girl had fallen to her death while the man suddenly disappeared. Seeking answers, Mark turns to the local Pathologist and ex-girlfriend Fiona Blake, who after running a full toxic analysis tells him that Gemma had traces of alcohol and GHB in her system even although there appears to be no sexual motivation for the crime. Mark, however, is certain that Gemma's death was no accident, especially when Fiona tells him that a lock of the girl's hair had been cut off and pulled out at the root, as though it had been sliced right off at the scalp. Working diligently, Mark, Sam, and their team start checking the Coroners' records for suicides of young women in London over the last couple of years, even though Donovan is sure there is no grounds so far to think Gemma's death was anything other than a one-off. Soon they uncover the records of two other girls who met a similar fate: Ellie Best and Laura Beneditti, both under twenty and who were both severely depressed. Suddenly a portrait develops of a terrifying new serial killer wh

Elena Forbes's "Die with Me" opens in a gloomy London churchyard, where the inscription on a tombstone reads "How short is life. How soon comes death." In this dour setting, a mysterious man has arranged a tryst with a fourteen-year-old girl. They have planned a do-it-yourself-wedding ceremony, but instead of going on a honeymoon, they plan to commit suicide and be together forever in the hereafter. What the innocent teenager does not realize is that "Tom," which is what her supposed bridegroom calls himself, is a fraud. He has no intention of committing suicide, but he does enjoy sending women to their deaths--alone. Detective Inspector Mark Tartaglia, Detective Sergeant Sam Donovan, and the rest of the murder team set out to find a sadist who has conducted this twisted courtship ritual with more than one lonely and depressed female. Tartaglia has been feeling a bit down himself. His boss and close friend, DCI Trevor Clarke, lies in a coma after crashing his motorbike, and the prognosis is grim. With Clarke out of commission, Detective Superintendent Clive Cornish names Tartaglia acting Senior Investigating Officer. Adding to his misery, Tartaglia still has feelings for pathologist Fiona Blake, whom he dumped when he learned of her engagement to another man. Unfortunately, he and Blake still have to work together, and this makes for some awkward and embarrassing encounters. Meanwhile, Sam Donovan carefully hides her attraction to Mark, who is "bloody gorgeous." She has accepted the fact that they are "good mates" who have an effective working relationship. There is no time for romance when you are working day and night, including weekends, trying to catch a serial killer. Tracking down "Tom" proves to be an exercise in futility. The man is a chameleon and an expert at disguising his appearance and intentions. There are few witnesses and no useful forensic evidence. When the scope of the investigation widens and details are leaked to the press, Cornish puts DCI Carolyn Steele in charge of the inquiry. Tartaglia resents Steele and loathes her former lover, Patrick Kennedy, whom she brings in as a Behavioural Investigative Analyst (psychological profiler). Forbes has written a fast-paced and skillfully constructed police procedural with an intriguing mix of well-delineated characters. Although Mark Tartaglia is a bit arrogant and aggressive, he is a dedicated cop whose hunches and hard work frequently pay off. Sam Donovan puts in long hours with few complaints, but she sorely misses having a life outside of work. DCI Carolyn Steele is a strong and determined woman who does her best to crack the case of the "Bridegroom Killer," but she is frustrated at her lack of progress and is repelled when she begins receiving a series of threatening emails, apparently from the villain whom they are seeking. The criminal, whom the author introduces early on, is a standard issue psychopath who has an uncanny ability to elude the author