Reviewed By: Lynn Harnett
The Mephisto Club
Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Tess Gerritsen
Class/Genre: Mystery Thriller Medical Woman Main Character
Series: Maura Isles and Jane Rizzoli # 6
Ballantine, 2006
Boston medical examiner Maura Isles and Detective Jane Rizzoli spend Christmas Eve at the scene of the gruesome murder of a young woman who worked at the Science Museum.
Nothing about Lori-Ann Tucker explains why anyone would mutilate her body, leaving her severed head inside a red circle punctuated with five candles, writing on her mirror “I have sinned,” in Latin.
But the second victim is one of their own. The cop is killed on the doorstep of a wealthy eccentric hosting a dinner party. One of the guests is Jane’s nemesis, psychologist Joyce O’Donnell, witness for the defense. The gathering is a meeting of The Mephisto Club, a group of scholars who investigate Evil. They believe Evil stalks the earth
in human form and whether Jane likes it or not (she doesn’t) they intend to aid the investigation.
The story alternates between Jane’s and Maura’s points of view, with intermittent segues to a young woman in Europe fleeing a man she feels will get her in the end and italicized interludes from that man, who believes he is the descendant of fallen angels and evil is his earthly mission.
Meanwhile Maura’s romance with the Catholic priest, Father Brophy, takes an added twist, putting her in danger, while The Mephisto Club attempts to recruit her because of the legacy of her murderer mother’s crimes. Jane remains skeptical while the clues mount as fast as the grisly murders.
“The Da Vinci Code” comes to mind, of course, but Gerritsen has her own take on satanic legends and religious symbology. The personal lives of Maura and Jane remain integral to the story, deepening interest in a plot that accelerates and expands as it goes, building to an electrifying climax. And leaving an opening for the return of The Mephisto Club.
Lynn Harnett
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Lynn Harnett
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