Suspect [Mass Market Paperback]

Jennifer Rowe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1999

INTRODUCING SENIOR DETECTIVE TESSA VANCE

When a young barker at a seaside amusement park is found dead with a steak knife plunged into his gut, Senior Detective Tessa Vance is called to investigate. Assigned to an unfamiliar Homicide division and having to win the trust of a new partner, Tessa soon discovers a grisly trail of bodies with nothing in common except for a series of gruesome clues left behind by a ruthlessly clever killer.

Tessa knows the deaths form a hideous pattern. But once she and her partner decipher its shocking secret, they find themselves in a race against time--fast approaching a deadline set by a cunning, murderous mind. . . .

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Homicide detective Tessa Vance's plans for a romantic birthday dinner with her boyfriend, Brett, are foiled when she's suddenly called away to investigate a murder at the local amusement park. Arriving at Funworld, she meets her less-than-amicable new partner, Steve Hayden, and makes the disturbing discovery of an unsigned birthday card left at the scene of the crime. Similarly executed murders follow at the furious pace of one a day, and Tessa must focus her reputed sharp investigative powers on capturing a presumed serial killer. A victim's date book provides Tessa with a crucial break in her case, one that she believes will lead from the dead to potential future victims. With new insight into the murderer's psyche, Tessa races to prevent the next seemingly imminent crime. Although entertaining, Rowe's (Lamb to the Slaughter) mystery suffers from its pedestrian plot twists and the tiresome internal dialogue of heroine Tessa Vance.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

INTRODUCING SENIOR DETECTIVE TESSA VANCE

When a young barker at a seaside amusement park is found dead with a steak knife plunged into his gut, Senior Detective Tessa Vance is called to investigate. Assigned to an unfamiliar Homicide division and having to win the trust of a new partner, Tessa soon discovers a grisly trail of bodies with nothing in common except for a series of gruesome clues left behind by a ruthlessly clever killer.

Tessa knows the deaths form a hideous pattern. But once she and her partner decipher its shocking secret, they find themselves in a race against time--fast approaching a deadline set by a cunning, murderous mind. . . .

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 245 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (March 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345427939
• ISBN-13: 978-0345427939
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,909,400 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Policeman's Lot Is Not a Happy One, August 26, 2002

By 

Sires "I enjoy mysteries, historical and proc... (Chesapeake, OH, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Suspect (Mass Market Paperback)

Tessa Vance is not having a happy life. The daughter of a martyred police hero, she joined the force and fought her way into a position as a Senior Detective in homicide. After two years in homicide she transferred location to be nearer her significant other who was having a significant snit because of her devotion to The Job.

It's Tessa's birthday. An intimate dinner for two is planned. Flowers are bought. She's wearing a low cut black dress and a pair of stiletto heels. Then the phone rings. There's a homicide at Funworld. Leaving her lover, her dinner and her flowers she faces her first case on the new job, her superior on the force and her new partner in stiletto heels and full face makeup. However, Tessa brazens it out.

The character of Tessa Vance was created for an Australian TV series, but the book is more than an adaptation of a TV script into a novel. Jennifer Rowe created the story line herself so she can tell the story in more depth here. The book is not as strong as the Verity Birdsong series, but it is quite entertaining.

Recommended for those who enjoy police procedurals and a good puzzle plot.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another top notch mystery from a truly top notch writer., August 24, 1999

By 

Enrique F. Bird (San Juan, Puerto Rico) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Suspect (Mass Market Paperback)

Jennifer Rowe is one of the top 2 or 3 practitioners of the traditional, classical mystery story. This book does not dissapoint; while different from the Birdie novels, still has a great plot, red herrings, multiple solutions and many of the classical tricks of the genre. Rowe and the now inactive Jane Haddam are probably the best 2 old-fashioned (in the very best sense of the word) writers of the fair-play detective story. And Rowe makes it seem effortless. If you like this type of mystery, the one where Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, and John Dickson Carr excelled, Rowe is a worthy successor to all 3 of them. Do not miss any of her books. Here she tries the currently popular genre of the serial murderer and gives it a ride like Christie's "The ABC Murders" and others of the classic era. Again, do not miss this!

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Too many inconsistencies, June 6, 2009

By 

Evan the Dweezil (A Place-Sort Of, Montana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Suspect (Mass Market Paperback)

Unless Tessa Vance is some sort of crazy superwoman, her life just doesn't add up. First there's eleven years, then fifteen years between the times she's at the fun park. Then, she's somehow able to make senior detective by the time she's 26/28 while also having gone to university and spent a year abroad afterwards. How is there time in her life for that, unless being a legacy means she spent all of thirty seconds as a regular cop before jumping to the big leagues.

She's constantly described as not being a team player, when she's really not a player of any sort. She comes up with random ideas that "just might work" because everyone else is too stupid to even tie their own shoes. She has a freaking stalker and keeps it to herself. She's not very smart on top of not working well with others.

As for the mystery, it got caught up in its own cleverness, ultimately making for a dreary and disappointing read.