FAN MAIL is P. D. Martin’s third in the Sophie Anderson series and her strongest to date. Martin follows Sophie and Detective Sorrell as they conduct the investigation. So many detective novels are linear; we start at point A, go to point B and end at point C. Not so FAN MAIL. It twists and turns; sometimes at breakneck speed, other times almost stalls as they hit dead ends. There is backtracking to re-question witnesses and suspects and frequent revisiting of evidence in light of new information.
Martin has also managed to pull off something that I don't think too many can do successfully. That is to write in the first person, present tense. Too often when an author does this, it feels awkward and contrived but in the case of FAN MAIL it works very well.
There quite a few references to Martin’s previous novel, THE MURDERERS’ CLUB and a resolution of some loose ends that were left in that book. So if you are new to P.D. Martin’s writing I recommend you read them in order.
Martin seems to be getting better and better with each book and I have become an unashamed fan of her work. I eagerly await her next offering.
Fan Mail
On her first day in her new job in Los Angeles, FBI profiler Sophie Anderson finds herself investigating the murder of a bestselling crime writer who was strangled with a pair of stockings, just like the character in her last book.
Before her death, the writer had received letters from "A fan" that had grown increasingly disturbing.
When Sophie discovers a link to the murder of a second crime novelist, and another goes missing, she must get inside the mind of the crazed fan before another writer dies.
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