By Ande Jacobson
The eleventh book in Tess Gerritsen’s Rizzoli & Isles series, Die Again, was first released in December 2014, and it’s another page turner. Gerritsen has shown herself to be a compelling mystery writer drawing upon her own background knowledge as a doctor and her world travels. This time, the story covers ground in Boston and other places across the U.S. as well as in the wilds of the African Bush region of Botswana. For that last part, Gerritsen draws upon her own experiences on safari adding a lot of color and atmosphere to her descriptions. The initial introduction to a safari some years before the present time of the story at first seems like a diversion fraught with interpersonal drama, but as is often the case in a Gerritsen mystery, it’s far more than that. The safari details are riveting, making the reader feel the tension and the danger surrounding the expedition well before anything untoward occurs. How the safari relates to the crimes at hand, some particularly gory murders in the present day Boston area that become cause for disagreement amongst the detectives in the homicide squad, doesn’t become clear until very late in the story. The Boston murder victims are curious, as is their executioner’s modus operandi which is more predator-oriented than usual. The path the story and the team travel from discovery of each of the bodies to the ultimate solution is a complex one with plenty of plausible misdirection along the way. There’s even a weird turf battle between Rizzoli and Crowe on competing cases that furthers the misdirection.
We get plenty of Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles time, and Rizzoli’s partner, Barry Frost, also gets his say. In a somewhat touching scenario, Maura ends up with a cat that seemingly bonds to her at the initial Boston crime scene, though she second-guesses herself through the story as the realities of cat ownership become clear.
The messy forensic details in this one pale compared to the gore displayed in the African Bush though, and the connections are tenuous at first. Gerritsen’s attention to detail is exquisite, again educating her readers not only on forensic techniques, but this time also on aspects of the natural world and the behaviors of predators in the wild, in particular, some of the peculiarities of various jungle cats. The more startling discovery is how some of these behaviors are present in all cats whether large or small which can be a bit unsettling and give validation to those who aren’t keen on owning a housecat. Readers learn that even that cute little kitten one picks up from their local cat rescue organization may have more in common with the big cats than it seems. One trope that comes through multiple times through the story is that cats, despite the smaller cousins having been companions for humans for eons, retain many of their wild instincts, and the big cats seen in zoos are never fully tamed no matter how docile they may appear on display or with their trainers and zookeepers.
Not all of the people are who they seem to be along the way, and extraordinary circumstances bring surprising human instincts to the forefront in unexpected ways. Reading this story could give one pause before embarking on a trip through the wilderness, particularly for the untrained. While the circumstances of the fictional crimes uncovered are unusual, they put some of the baser attributes of humankind on display in disturbing ways. The uptick in today’s methods for stealing identities also comes into play begging the question how an unassuming employer or tourist can reliably verify the identity and qualifications of those they encounter at work, and on vacation.
The addition of the cat in Maura’s life goes beyond this story and serves to humanize her a bit more. The cat is depicted authentically suggesting that Gerritsen either has some personal experience as a cat owner, or is close to others who have which isn’t surprising. Gerritsen takes great pains to ensure that while improbable, her plots are at least plausible. The descriptive depth of her stories takes significant research across a wide variety of fields and domains.
With respect to the mysteries at hand, it’s fascinating to watch the pieces fall into place and build to a dramatic and explosive conclusion once it becomes clear who the perpetrator is and how they arrived at the current moment. In Gerritsen’s mysteries, nobody is really safe, but readers can make a few easy assumptions given there are still two additional books in the series.
References:
The Surgeon, by Tess Gerritsen
The Apprentice, by Tess Gerritsen
The Sinner, by Tess Gerritsen
Body Double, by Tess Gerritsen
Vanish, by Tess Gerritsen
The Mephisto Club, by Tess Gerritsen
The Keepsake, by Tess Gerritsen
Ice Cold, by Tess Gerritsen
The Silent Girl, by Tess Gerritsen
Last to Die, by Tess Gerritsen
Die Again, by Tess Gerritsen
https://www.tessgerritsen.com/
https://www.starttv.com/lists/the-differences-between-the-rizzoli-isles-books-and-tv-show
A Good Reed Review 