‘The Deepest Kill’ is forensic tale of murder
“The Deepest Kill,” third in the Locard Institute series by Lisa Black, former forensic scientist at the Cuyahoga County Coroner’s Office, is a complex action thriller with an attention-grabbing plot.
In Book One, “Red Flags,” Ellie Carr left the FBI to teach classes, research forensic techniques and investigate crimes at the fictional Locard Institute in Washington, D.C. She has a touchy relationship with Rachael Davies, the institute’s assistant director, but by Book Two, “What Harms You,” the two women have formed an efficient team as they track the killer of a staff member and a student.
Here, Ellie and Rachael are commissioned on behalf of Locard to investigate the death of Ashley Post Anderson, daughter of the third-richest man in the world. She went boating from the family compound in the Florida Gulf; the boat was found empty a week later and her body a week after that.
Ashley’s death has been ruled accidental by the medical examiner, but when Martin Post calls for the Locard, everything stops. After a second autopsy, Ellie and Rachael determine that Ashley was murdered.
Post’s software design company is on the brink of landing a multibillion-dollar government defense contract and the security around his compound could hardly be higher. There don’t seem to be many viable suspects; Ashley’s husband unlikable Greg looks like the prime candidate. Rachael’s evaluation of Greg’s body language in televised interviews has her positive that he’s lying about something, but that doesn’t mean that he’s the killer.
Is the murder a domestic matter, or is it espionage related to the coding Ashley had been working on for the project? Ellie and Rachael dodge a throng of reporters and review the evidence many times, working toward a solution.
The fast-moving plot contains much more of Ellie’s childhood; she was shuttled among family members in different states and this history, along with her FBI experience, gives her unique insight in solving the crime. All the while, a tropical storm is approaching.
The Locard Institute is named for the real-life French criminologist Edmond Locard; as in the previous books, the depiction of scenes at the medical examiner’s office are gruesome and authentic. Readers of forensic fiction will enjoy this. Although “The Deepest Kill” is fine as a standalone novel, reading the first two books will provide background for these two strong female characters.
“The Deepest Kill” (320 pages, hardcover) costs $28 from Kensington Books. Lisa Black also wrote the Gardiner and Renner series about a Cleveland forensic investigator and a police detective with a secret, and two fine thrillers under the name Elizabeth Becka. She is a latent print examiner and certified crime analyst for the Cape Coral Police Department.
‘Brook Park’
Though Brook Park isn’t that old and isn’t that big, it’s more than just a suburb of Cleveland. In “Brook Park,” James Van Keuren follows the history from its incorporation as a village in 1914 to its site as NASA Glenn Research Center in 2022.
Almost all of the book is devoted to annotated photos of Cleveland Municipal Airport and its development, the 1940s bomber assembly plant that became first a tank plant for the Korean War and later the International Exposition Center, and Ford engine and casting plants.
“Brook Park” (128 pages, softcover) costs $23.99 from Arcadia Publishing. James Van Keuren, former dean of the college of education at Ashland University. He also has written “World War II Prison Camps in Ohio” and “The School Poisoning Tragedy in Caledonia, Ohio.”
Events
Loganberry Books (13017 Larchmere Blvd., Cleveland): Cleveland poet Quartez Harris reads from his collection “We Made It to School Alive,” 3 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
Akron-Summit County Public Library (Tallmadge branch, 90 Community Road): Don Ake talks about “Deep, Heavy Stuff: Thoughts and Essays for Enriching Your Life,” 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday.
Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library: Jason Mott, author of the National Book Award winner “A Hell of a Book,” joins the Online Author Talk Series to discuss “Exploring Identity, Love, and Being Black in America in Fiction Writing,” 4 p.m. Tuesday. Register at smfpl.org.
Western Reserve Historical Society (Cleveland History Center, 10825 East Blvd., Cleveland): Connie Laux, who writes as Anastasia Hastings (“Of Hoaxes and Homicide,” featured Jan. 28 in Book Talk), Kylie Logan (“The Scent of Murder”) and Casey Daniels (the Pepper Martin mystery series), joins the By the Book series, 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday. Museum admission is $15.
Cuyahoga County Public Library (Bay Village branch, 27400 Wolf Road): Wendy Koile talks about “Lake Erie Murder & Mayhem,” 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.
Mac’s Backs (1820 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights): Connie Schultz signs her children’s book “Lola and the Troll,”11 a.m. to noon Saturday; from 7 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Dan Chaon (“Sleepwalk”) talks to Kyle Winkler about his fantasy novel “Grasslands.”
Akron-Summit County Public Library (Highland Square branch, 807 W. Market St.): S.R.D. Harris (“Future Miss President”) joins Story Time for ages 3-5, 11 to 11:45 a.m. Saturday. Register at akronlibrary.org.
Something Different Gallery (1899 W. 25th Street, Cleveland): Anastasia Hastings signs “Of Hoaxes and Homicide,” noon to 5 p.m. Saturday.