Love Story, with Murders

Bingham’s superb second police procedural featuring Det. Constable Fiona Griffiths delivers an even more intense plot and richer character study than his first, 2012’s Talking to the Dead. Mary Langton, a university student who briefly worked as an exotic dancer, has been missing for years when her leg is found in a freezer at the home of a recently deceased elderly widow. Soon, more of the young woman’s body parts are discovered throughout a neighborhood in Cardiff, Wales. The case becomes even odder when the police find parts belonging to the recently murdered Ali el-Khalifi, a North African metallurgist and college lecturer. Fiona also tries to learn why as a toddler she was left in the car belonging to the couple who eventually adopted her. Back in the day, her adoptive father, now a legitimate businessman, had the reputation as Cardiff’s most talented—but unconvicted—criminal. Fiona’s past mental problems and her unconventional personality make her a distinctive lead. Agent: George Lucas, Inkwell Management. (Feb.)