26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The kind of female character I like to see in fiction, April 12, 2010
This review is from: The Night Killer: A Diane Fallon Forensic Investigation (Mass Market Paperback)
I have a meter I judge books by. I call it the angst to action ratio meter. A lot of fiction has pages and pages detailing the thought process of its female characters. Self doubt, worry, anxiety, denial, self pity... You name a negative emotion and some authors wallow in it. It would seem quite a few writers basically haven't much of a story to tell, so they fill up space by playing an endless mind-loop of `what-if's, why-not's and woe-is-me's.
On the other hand, there are female characters like Beverly Connor's Dr. Dianne Fallon who just go about the process of telling a story in a straight forward and exciting fashion. That's the kind of novel I enjoy. Fast paced and full of action with a heroine that is neither wishy-washy nor in need of constant rescue.
In Connor's latest offering The Night Killer, Dr Fallon visits Roy Barre's remote mountain farm to pick up a collection of Indian artifacts he has donated to the museum. As evening approaches, she drives back down the treacherous mountain road and is caught in a thunderstorm. Lost and disoriented, Dianne sees a farm house ahead and decides to ask the farmer for directions. That's when lightening strikes a tree beside the road and it falls onto the hood of her SUV. She peers thru the streaming windshield at the face of a skeleton staring back at her.
Deciding she probably doesn't want much close contact with homeowners who store bodies in their shrubbery, Dianne attempts to find her way on foot back up the mountain to the Barre's farm. Meanwhile, the house's occupants turn their hounds loose to find her.
See what I mean about angst to action. Connor's books move forward at such a fast pace there isn't time for the character to indulge in much introspection and the rethinking of every action.
I believe this is the eighth book in Connor's Dianne Fallon series. Any of these books can be read out of sequence. For anyone who starts with The Night Killer, here is a little background that may be useful.
Dr Dianne Fallon is a forensic anthropologist, archaeologist, and former human rights investigator. She spent several years in third world countries, uncovering mass graves and attempting to gather evidence of human rights violations and atrocities. The death of her adopted daughter at the hands of one of the tyrants she was investigating has brought her back to the US to heal and choose a new direction for her life.
An old socialite friend offered Dianne the position of director of a small natural history museum in rural Georgia. Local politics influenced Dianne's decision to also accept the job as head of the county's crime scene investigation unit. A marriage of the museum's resources with the crime lab's needs seemed a perfect solution for a cash strapped small town without an abundance of crime.
If this all sounds vaguely familiar, you may have seen an episode or two of Fox TV's Bones. Although Bones is supposed to be loosely based on Kathy Reich's Temperance Brennan novels, it is also set in a museum and bears some small resemblance to Connor's books which were introduced long before the TV show ever aired.
If you were a fan of Patricia Cornwall's early novels, you will enjoy Connor's books. The author holds degrees in anthropology and archaeology so she is in a position to add some very interesting facts into her story lines.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Diane Fallon Does It Again, May 14, 2010
This review is from: The Night Killer: A Diane Fallon Forensic Investigation (Mass Market Paperback)
I love Beverly Connor's Diane Fallon series. I like all the characters and how they are developed. They grow with each book. There is never just one story line, there are always related story lines that tie in by the end of the book. This one was particularly good because I thought that I had figured out who the killer was and then discovered that I was only partially right!
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent mystery, April 24, 2010
This review is from: The Night Killer: A Diane Fallon Forensic Investigation (Mass Market Paperback)
This is another Beverly Conner forensics mystery. As usual she delivers a fast paced, well written, adventure with lots of twists and turns to make for a busy evenings entertainment. She presents a strong female heroine, well educated who thinks logically and can deliver with grace and style. Enjoy.
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