Books I'm reading on vacation this week...

I've just started Pattern of Wounds, the second hard boiled mystery novel from J. Mark Bertrand.

Here's the description from the back of the book:

It's Christmas in Houston, and homicide detective Roland March is on the hunt for a killer. A young woman's brutal stabbing in an affluent neighborhood bears all the hallmarks of a serial murder. The only problem is that March sent the murderer to prison ten years ago. Is it a copycat -- or did March convict the wrong man?

Alienated from his colleagues and with a growing rift in his marriage, March receives messages from the killer. The bodies pile up, the pressure builds, and the violence reaches too close to home. Up against an unfathomable evil, March struggles against the clock to understand the hidden message in the pattern of wounds.


I read Bertrand's Back on Murder last year and really enjoyed it. So I'm looking forward to this one, a perfect vacation read.


I've also just started Doc by Mary Doria Russell, whose science fiction novel The Sparrow was a favorite of mine the year it came out (though I didn't care for the sequel). A discerning reader friend suggested Doc, and so far it looks great. Speaking of which... the third book I'm reading this week is by that same discerning reader friend, who sent me his as-yet-unpublished book to check out. I'm excited to take a look!