Blood River

In 1999 Brisbane, Australia, Det. Constable Lara Ocean and Det. Insp. Billy Waterson, the leads of this uninspired serial-killer thriller from Cavanaugh (the Darian Richards series), seek the Slayer, who nearly severs the heads of his (or her) victims, all of them male. The opening section’s title, “Wrong Girl,” telegraphs that 17-year-old Jen White, a private school girl the two homicide cops bring in for questioning, is innocent. Flash back three weeks to the discovery of the Slayer’s first victim. More murders follow in quick succession. Lara wonders whether a symbol connected to Taranis, the Celtic god of thunder, tattooed on one corpse points to an ex-boyfriend of hers. Early on, Cavanaugh indicates that the mystery of the Slayer’s identity won’t be resolved until 2019, lessening interest in those sections set in 1999. That Lara and Billy remain psychologically undeveloped throughout further undermines reader engagement. Fans of this subgenre will be better off elsewhere. (June)