Harm's Way (Alan Gregory)

Stephen White is the best author I've ever read and Harm's Way continues to live up to my expectations from him.

Stephen White has the courage to kill off a beloved recurring character in the first chapter! Another novel about beautiful Boulder, Colorado, fascinating lessons in psychology and a story that will surprise you with its ending. You won't be able to put this book down.

This isn't the best of the Alan Gregory series, but it's still better than most of the other books I've read in the past year. I learned more than I wanted to know about theatre, and having Peter gruesomely killed depressed me, but the mystery was top-notch. I suspect that the novel would be less enjoyable for readers who missed the first three of the series, so buy the others, too. And don't stop here; the series keeps getting better with each new book. I've already pre-ordered Kill Me, number 14, to be released in March.

When Dr Alan Gregory's good friend Peter Arvin is found dying on the stage of a Colorado theater, suspicion soars that he is the second victim of a serial killer. Now the police want Alan to create a psychological profile of the murder. Peter's widow wants to know her husband's secrets. And Alan is desperate to know who killed his friend--and why. Did the guilty party have a sick taste for show biz? Was the murderer inspired by greed or by vengeance? Or by forbidden sex? Alan Gregory follows the trail of naked violence and hidden shame from Denver to the peaceful town of Boulder and to the wanton wonderland of Jackson Hole. He thought he knew his late late friend--but what he didn't know could kill him....

I have now read almost all of the Alan Gregory series and really liked this one very much. The author writes very well and gives such detail to his assorted characters that you can't wait to see what happens to them all in the next book. I especially like the relationship between the main character, the psychologist, and the detective, who is always giving him a bit of a hard time. I want to keep reading about these people. And so will you.