Death Bed

In Russell’s subpar fourth mystery featuring Det. Insp. Geraldine Steel (after 2011’s Dead End), Geraldine, now with London’s Murder Squad after leaving the smallish Kent police force, tackles an exasperatingly difficult case. A seriously demented collector with a passion for artifacts made from human bones appears to be targeting young black women. Steele and her new detective sergeant, Sam Haley, are part of the team assigned to find a link between the mutilation murder of Jessica Palmer and the disappearance of Donna Henry, but a dearth of forensic evidence and vague eyewitness statements give little to go on. When Sam isn’t warning Geraldine that she’s alienating some of the team by trying to do everything herself, the pair engage in sophomoric debates about law enforcement. Geraldine’s dithering over whether to make contact with the birth mother who put her up for adoption helps humanize her but otherwise doesn’t advance the action. (Dec.)