Cry for Help

In Mosby’s powerful thriller, set in what might be Nottingham, England, the police are baffled by an unknown killer who’s been tying up young women and leaving them to die of starvation and thirst. The sadistic murderer uses his victims’ mobile phones to send text messages to the victims’ friends and relatives to suggest all is well while each woman is, in fact, slowly dying. In one case, the killer sends a message the day the body is found saying, “You let her die.” The official inquiry, headed by Det. Sam Currie, himself haunted by having discovered his son’s decaying corpse, centers on David Lewis, a part-time magician and writer for a magazine debunking psychics and UFOs, who was involved with two of the victims. Lewis, who has something to hide, launches his own search for the killer. Mosby (The 50/50 Killer ) intercuts between characters’ perspectives brilliantly, setting up a reveal toward the end that’s both logical and unexpected. (Aug.)