Tooth and Claw

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Lapslie returns in another thriller, assisted by his able Detective Sergeant, Emma Bradbury. But in this novel, Lapslie's disability plays a major role. He suffers from an unusual ailment, synaesthesia, a condition where sound translates as taste, hearing as odors, often in stomach-churning combinations. Separated from his wife because it has become intolerable to endure daily family chaos, Lapslie's "constant sensory anguish" is exacerbated to the point that he cannot work at police headquarters, ensconced at his desk in a quiet country cottage where he interfaces with the department via technology. But when a particularly brutal murder occurs, a female newsreader systematically tortured to death in her home, Mark's supervisor demands his presence as head of the investigation. Although Emma does her best to run interference for her boss, Lapslie is caught in a conundrum: he must be present physically if he is to solve the crime. When another high profile murder occurs, a bombing in a train station, Lapslie is burdened with another case, simply the best man for the job. While juggling autopsies, crime scene investigations and press conferences, Lapslie is overcome, the price of his efforts a severe attack of gut-wrenching odors beyond his tolerance. Although it seems unlikely, Mark links the two crimes, but proving the connection is an impossible task. Mc Crery casts Lapslie's disease in a starring role in this bizarre thriller, as is the demented psyche of a serial killer driven to add more murders to his macabre list of victims. For once, Lapslie's obscure psychological disorder allows him access to the mind of a killer, but at a terrible emotional price. Given the extremes of sensory stimulation Mark must endure, it's hard to imagine that these two cases are not the DCI's swan song as a detective. A thriller with a new twist, a detective who can literally smell his prey, makes for fascinating reading, the killer a study in emotional damage in his own right. Luan Gaines/2010.