The Body Box (Cold Case) [Mass Market Paperback]

Lynn Abercrombie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2005 | Series: Cold Case

He calls it the Body Box. It's a space too small for his victims to sit up or lie down. But it's the perfect place to keep them for his games - the perfect place to watch them while they die. Bad choices and big mistakes have landed Detective Mechelle Deakes on the Atlanta Police Department's lowest rung, the Cold Case Unit. Sifting through forensic evidence and unsolved murder files is a thankless job she shares with her new partner, Lieutenant Hank Gooch, a man of few words and even fewer for African-American female cops like Mechelle. His single obsession is finding a serial killer who preys on the most innocent of victims, a man he thinks is responsible for many of the most gruesome unsolved cases in their files. And one chilling look convinces Mechelle that Hank's right. It's a case that has been cold for a reason. Someone wants it to stay closed. And two cops will risk everything - their jobs, their reputations, even their lives - to uncover the truth, no matter where it takes them.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Abercrombie's disturbing police thriller, the first in a new series, introduces feisty African-American detective Mechelle Deakes. Demoted to the Atlanta Police Department's cold case unit after getting busted for buying crack, Deakes is drawn to a series of unsolved murders in the city and surrounding areas that date back to the '80s. Each case involves children whose bodies exhibited unusual bone decalcification, the result of malnutrition. The abductor kept his young victims in a cramped box, starving and then photographing them for a perverse Web site run by "Captain Hunger." After killing them, he planted evidence on their bodies that incriminated others. After a series of dead-end leads, Deakes and her shady partner, Lt. Hank Gooch, narrow the list of suspects to a fellow law-enforcement employee. But the wrong accusation could prove fatal. Breezy dialogue and Deakes's humanity nicely contrast with challenging procedural details and the killer's inhumanity. Abercrombie is the pseudonym of Edgar winner Walter Sorrels, who's also written under the pseudonym of Ruth Birmingham. (Dec.)
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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Pinnacle Books (December 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786017279
• ISBN-13: 978-0786017270
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #246,722 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How many can he kill without getting caught?, December 31, 2005

By 

The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers (RAWSISTAZ.com and BlackBookReviews.net) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Body Box (Cold Case) (Mass Market Paperback)

Detective Mechelle Deakes of the Atlanta Police Department's Cold Case Unit with her partner, Lt. Hank Gooch is supposed to solve decades old murder cases. The worst case is the one that involves small children. The youngsters have been found over the years in various parts of the south and each killing is different, therefore it has taken quite a while to realize that the same person may have killed them all. THE BODY BOX by Lynn Abercrombie is a hard hitting, realistic case of a mad man who keeps his victims in a box for weeks until he decides to finally kill them. His thrill, apparently, is watching them slowly die from starvation. The case is made more complicated for Mechelle because she is also dealing with her own demons and the case pushes her back toward the addictions she has given up. In addition, someone in the police department doesn't want the case solved. Can Mechelle solve the case and remain clean and sober?

THE BODY BOX is a suspenseful book with many twists and turns that keep you guessing who the killer might be. Walter Sorrells, writing as Lynn Abercrombie, has spun an interesting tale not only of murder but he also gives us an interesting look into the dynamics of the various police departments throughout the South as well as the interaction between the various players in the case. It is a book well worth reading.

Reviewed by Alice Holman

of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

5.0 out of 5 stars Crime series find of 2007!!!, April 25, 2007

By 

Jennifer A. Jackman "Clete Purcell's next gir... (Brisbane, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Body Box (Cold Case) (Mass Market Paperback)

Its only early on in 2007, but I reckon this book, along with its follow up "Blind Fear" is going to rate as my 'crime find' for 2007. It was with some trepidation I picked up this cheap little paperback. No bells and whistles, just straight into lots of dense small print. Within about 20 pages I was not only totally hooked, but laughing my rear end off at the line "Pick another town, pervert" delivered by the media-savvy chief of police in a televised raid on a paedophile ring.

It is clear immediately that the author, of whom I had never heard, is an experienced and extremely talented writer. Biographical information at the end of the book reveals that Lynn Abercrombie is actually a pseudonym for a "highly acclaimed Edgar Award-winning author, past president of the Atlanta chapter of 'Sisters in Crime'". Who is this masked woman? I asked myself. Surely someone I had read before, obviously a big name female crime writer. I couldn't think of anyone writing out of Atlanta, where the book is set, and neither have I stumbled upon a black female main character before. A little bit of googling later reveals that... well its all part of the mystery, enjoy the hunt! I got a laugh. The author delivers a tight and intricate plot, snappy dialogue and an especially talented ear for regional dialects.

The main character Mechelle Deakes has done some struggling, it would seem, and for her sins she has been kicked down from narcotics and at the beginning of this book, reassigned again from "GLBT Liason officer" (that would be Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender - she apparently never worked out what that latter actually entailed) to the new Cold Case Unit, situated in the basement and consisting of herself and her superior the baccy chewing redneck, oldschool Lieutenant-with-a-mission Hank Gooch. The author has tongue firmly in cheek the reader suspects at many points throughout this book and although the subject matter is deadly serious this book is consistently a cracking good read.

Abercrombie's first "Cold Case Thriller" is a stunner. I'm giving it 5-stars for hitting all the hallmarks of a good crime series in the very first book. The author gives you great characters, from the most minor to the two majors, well paced plot and particularly clever dialogue. On top of that it made me laugh! You go girl!! And I'd LOVE to see these in hardback, where they belong.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great mystery read!, April 20, 2006

By 

Silent Talker (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Body Box (Cold Case) (Mass Market Paperback)

Great read! This book has it all: great characters, loads of action, twists and turns that keep you guessing until the very end and interesting regional language.

The main character, Mechelle Deakes, does tend to get over dramatic at times, but I guess that's an important trait for this character.

Fast reading...I read it in a day.

I'm looking forward to the next Abercrombie book.