Book Review: The Art of Deception

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Art of Deception     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Ridley Pearson
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Police Procedural
Series: Boldt / Matthews # 8
Hyperion, August 2002, $23.95, 464 pp.

Lieutenant Lou Boldt of the Seattle Police department is back in the field and enjoying every moment of it except that two women have disappeared and the police don’t have a clue what happened to them. One of the women is his wife’s friend so it is very important to Lou that he solves the case so the families can have some kind of closure.

Police psychologist Lieutenant Daphne Matthews finds herself deeply involved in a case that might tie in to Lou’s. The brother of a woman who was killed and thrown off a bridge insists he has some knowledge about the two missing women. The problem is that he wants to deal on his own terms with only Daphne with whom he has taken an unholy interest in.

Readers of this long running and popular series will feel very comfortable with the way the characters are evolving, especially Sergeant La Moia who is in control of his sexual and drug addictions. His relationship with Daphne is also evolving into something more personal and the audience will think this pairing makes for a better story. The mystery is complex, intricate and totally absorbing, a one sitting read that shows why Ridley Pearson is the grandmaster of the police procedural.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner