Crimson Lake Road

In Edgar-finalist Methos’s nail-biting sequel to 2020’s A Killer’s Wife, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Yardley, in Clark County, Nev., agrees to review a case file for the FBI. The case involves two women who were abducted, beaten, and posed to resemble two of the four subjects in The Night Things, a series of paintings by Sarpong, a 1960s Kenyan painter. Both victims were found in vacant cabins on Crimson Lake Road, an isolated area outside Las Vegas. One victim, Kathy Pharr, died after being administered a lethal dose of a toxin. The other, Angela River, survived because her dose was too weak. Knowing that two more victims may exist, Jessica immerses herself in finding the killer. Then Kathy’s 14-year-old daughter disappears, leaving behind her phone and traces of blood. The odd friendship that develops between Angela and Jessica lends personal interest, as does Jessica’s relationships with her own genius daughter and her former husband, a serial killer on death row. Readers will be curious to see where Methos takes Jessica next. [em]Agent: Ann Leslie Tuttle, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Feb.) [/em]