The Keepsake by Tess Gerritsen

Tess Gerritsen’s The Keepsake is a fast moving, well-paced whodunit. Medical Examiner Maura Isles is called in to observe the CT scanning of a mummy for a museum. The observers are shocked to find the mummy isn’t ancient at all, but the well-preserved body of a modern murder victim. Solving the murder falls to Jane Rizzoli, a Boston police detective. Soon Rizzoli discovers other women who have been murdered and preserved using disturbing and macabre methods. Knowing the killer has chosen his next victim; it becomes a race against the clock to stop this murderer.

I really enjoyed this novel. I haven’t read every one of the books in this series, but I like the authors writing style and the way she moves her stories along, so I’m going to have to put the one’s I’ve missed on my list. I’ll admit to feeling pretty darn smug when about halfway through the novel, I figured out “whodunit”. And I’ll admit to feeling more than a little sheepish, when in the last two chapters, I found out that I was wrong, Wrong, WRONG! I really love it when a book surprises me. It’s nice to figure out the end before it ends, but its soooo much better to be wrong!!

Tess Gerritsen has that uncanny knack of adding personal information in just the right amount. She never deviates from the actual story, instead just adds enough tidbits about Isles and Rizzoli to make the reader want to see where their stories will ultimately lead. In fact, having not read all of these series, the bits added and the bits alluded to will be just enough to send me to the bookstore to pick up those earlier novels. Don’t get me wrong; the reader certainly doesn’t have to do that to enjoy this novel. The author manages extremely well to give us enough information, and yet I imagine a faithful reader wouldn’t feel like they’ve just re-read the previous novels while reading this one.

The Keepsake comes out tomorrow, Sept. 9th. Head on over to Amazon, stop by Barnes and Noble, call your local librarian. Just give this a look!