Time
of Death
A PJ Gray Novel
The
fifth PJ Gray is available now!
Five Star First Edition Mysteries
A Division of Thomson Gale
ISBN 1-59414-309-9, $25.95
Read the opening here!
“The hook in Kennett’s PJ Gray
series, starring a St. Louis psychological profiler, is the use of virtual
reality software to recreate crime scenes. The high-tech wizardry is fine,
but what really makes this series go is the fiery relationship and strong
personalities of the costars, gutsy protagonist PJ (Penelope) and her Andy
Sipowicz-like boyfriend, Leo Schultz, a police detective. This pair could be
solving cases with legal pads and pencils, and readers would still be drawn
to them. This time single mom PJ is keeping an eye on the online gaming
addiction of her teenage son and trying to decide what kind of commitment to
give the lovably exasperating Schultz. Meanwhile, the police are struggling
with a series of brutal murders that may be tied to a serial killer. Schultz
hits the streets in search of clues, and PJ fires up her virtual reality
program to relive the grisly crimes. A top-notch series that satisfies both
readers seeking page-turning suspense and those looking for characters so
real you almost expect to see them at the local diner.” —
Booklist
“Shirley Kennett is finally getting the credit
she deserves for being one of the most accomplished page-turners working in
the suspense field today. Her books are smart, packed with tension, and
filled with people you cheer for.” — Ed Gorman, author of
Bad Money and
Blood Moon
“Kennett’s
writing is taut and unyielding, and like great baseball pitchers she throws
the curves fast and with uncanny accuracy. Reading this book was like
watching someone juggle plates while skateboarding down a steep hill. You
aren’t sure how it will end, just that it will be spectacular. I loved every
minute of this book and look forward to her next.” — Jon Jordan,
Crimespree Magazine
“The story line ... is brilliantly
supplemented with the seemingly dysfunctional relationship between PJ and
Leo.” — Harriet Klausner
“While PJ uses science and technology to solve
crimes, her partner Detective Leo Schultz uses his gut instincts. Ms.
Kennett has penned characters that are multi-dimensional and believable. A
worthwhile read.” — Love Romances
“This rip-roaring, page-turner of a thriller
builds to its nail-nibbling climax on a solid foundation of police
procedure, cutting edge virtual reality crime scene simulation, and
realistic and likeable protagonists. So fasten your seatbelts: the murders
are multiple and bloody and past atrocities that spawned them are puzzling
and creepy enough to keep your lights burning all night.” — Carole Nelson
Douglas, author of Femme Fatale and
Spider Dance
The mutilated body on the St. Louis riverfront
is just the beginning. Forensic virtual reality expert PJ Gray has her hands
full when the Metro Mangler claims more victims. As the case heats up, so do
her feelings for her partner, Detective Leo Schultz. They’re like bolts of
lightning that sizzle and hiss the closer they get, swept up in a
relationship that is more force of nature than emotional state. As a wealthy
family’s secrets unravel and a thirty-year-old murder comes to light, PJ’s
in danger of crossing the line from investigator to victim.
Gray Matter (PJ Gray #1)
Book Clubs: The Literary Guild, Doubleday
Book Club,
Alternate Selection of The Mystery Guild
Kensington, ISBN 1-57566-079-2, $21.95
Pinnacle, ISBN 0-7860-0389-8, $5.99
"Kennett is a
writer of rare skill, and GRAY MATTER is a deftly plotted novel bristling
with suspense. Its characters are real and contemporary, and its premise is
gripping and unique. Not since RED DRAGON has a more menacing serial killer
roamed metropolitan St. Louis. A rip-roaring good read. Let's see more of PJ
Gray!" - John Lutz, author of SINGLE WHITE FEMALE
"Fans of Patricia
Cornwell's work will be hooked on his heart-stopping and harrowing thriller.
The finely drawn characters in GRAY MATTER are both complex and terrifyingly
convincing." - Romantic Times
A celebrated pianist has been
found dead, decapitated by a sharp instrument, possibly a meat cleaver. His
head is missing. The skin on his back has been carved into the bas-relief of
a mongrel dog. It is a savage, seemingly senseless slaying. But it is only
the first.
Penelope Jennifer Gray, known
as PJ, is a newly divorced psychologist making a fresh start with her
twelve-year-old son in St. Louis. A pioneer in the competitive field of
computer simulation studies, she has been hired to set up a new division
within the St. Louis Police Department. Through cutting-edge techniques of
virtual reality, the Computerized Homicide Investigations Project, or CHIP,
recreates real-life crimes by placing the user in the mind of the
perpetrator. PJ is teamed up with Leo Schultz, a veteran cop fast
approaching burnout, to investigate the case that has St. Louis is a
death-grip: the city is being terrorized by what could be the most
unstoppable serial killer in history.
He's a face in the crowd. A
figure in the shadows. The guy standing behind you at the street corner,
waiting for the light to change. With each fresh killing, Pauley Mac adds
another victim to his "guest" list. They are the voices in his head. The
coveted talents he hopes to one day possess. The furies he can no longer
control.
For PJ Gray, at the mercy of
a cunning monster with none to give, it will take all of her instincts as a
psychologist and as a woman to beat Pauley Mac at his own game. To survive,
she must enter the mind of a killer.
Fire Cracker (PJ Gray #2)
Book Clubs: The
Literary Guild, Doubleday, The Mystery Guild
Kensington, ISBN 1-57566-181-0, $21.95
Pinnacle, ISBN 0-7860-0525-4, $5.99
"FIRE CRACKER is the
masterful follow-up to the stunning debut GRAY MATTER. Ms. Kennett has
created a winner in psychologist PJ Gray. Gray is intelligent, tough, strong
and independent, and yet Kennett has wisely given her the normal working
single mother human frailties. The story line is superb, with a criminal
mastermind that comes off with some sympathy. Suspenseful, exciting, and a
fascinating read. A worthy successor to the outstanding GRAY MATTER. Rating
10 out of 10."
- The Shadow Box
The room pulses with electronic life. His
mind on overload, he activates the program that creates commands and alters
lab results and vital patient information - then removes all traces of
itself.
In a busy St. Louis hospital, a wealthy,
elderly patient gasps her last breath, the victim of a complex series of
medical orders carried out through the hospital's computer system. A few
days later, a diabetic man is administered an overdose of insulin - again on
computerized command. While the hospital insists it is blameless in both
cases, veteran homicide cop Leo Schultz isn't so sure. And PJ Gray, the
director of the department's Computerized Homicide Investigation Project,
suspects that someone is tampering with the hospital's system - with the
deadliest of results.
Still recovering from a bitter divorce,
the single mother of a twelve-year-old boy, PJ knows what it's like to try
to win a losing battle. Her first case nearly cost her everything: she still
has the jagged scar from a madman's carving knife to remind her how fragile
- and precious - life is. Now the psychologist and expert in the
groundbreaking field of forensic computer simulation faces her most
impossible investigation yet. It will shatter the illusion of a safe haven
she thought she'd finally created for her son and for herself.
This time her quarry is far more elusive.
This time, PJ Gray and Leo Schultz are hunting a man who doesn't exist.
His handle is Cracker. A cunning computer
hacker who engineered his own disappearance and death, he has hatched a
monstrous plan for retribution that PJ is just beginning to comprehend. As
she uses her skills to enter his brilliant, tortured mind, Cracker taunts
her with a final challenge: anticipate his next move, or many more will die.
Chameleon (PJ Gray #3)
Kensington, ISBN 1-57566-181-0, $21.95
Pinnacle, ISBN 0-7860-0638-2, $5.99
"Columbus Wade is something
special: a chillingly realistic creation- not a typical psychopath who
happens to be a young boy but a precocious, fun-loving, immature young boy
who happens to be a psychopath. A very unsettling and very compelling
novel." - Booklist
As a
twelve-year-old, Columbus Wade spends a lot of time in his bedroom on the
second floor of his parents' home. Since the family moved to St. Louis
several years ago, Roberta and Edgar Wade have rarely seen their son.
Columbus may live physically on Magnolia Boulevard in south St. Louis, but
he spends his time in virtual reality worlds of his own design. When he's
immersed, he doesn't have to deal with his parents. He doesn't have to deal
with emotions, which is good because he doesn't feel many himself. When
necessary, he mimics the emotional responses of people around him, as a
chameleon changes color to blend in with its surroundings.
The VR worlds
Columbus creates are immensely satisfying to him because he can do whatever
he wants to do with no consequences, even kill the simulated people who
inhabit the worlds. Then he crosses the line between VR and reality when he
murders a teacher who interferes with his private activities. The killing is
clumsy and bloody, like a lion cub taking its first prey. But Columbus can
do better now.
It isn't easy for a
twelve-year-old to plan and perform horrific murders, sneaking out on his
parents' Bridge Night. The one thing in his favor is that his victims don't
find him threatening until it's too late. Even still, the logistics are
complicated. After all, he has to have exact change for the bus.
The horror strikes
close to home for PJ Gray. Her son Thomas attends the school where the
teachers have every reason to be frightened of bumps in the night. Now
Thomas is spending a lot of time with a new friend, one whose influence
seems too strong for PJ's comfort. Is she serving milk and cookies to a
killer at her kitchen table?
Act of Betrayal (PJ Gray #4)
Pinnacle, ISBN 0-7860-1115-7, $5.99
Heads up: This book was released under the pen name of Morgan Avery,
but it is the fourth book in the PJ Gray series!
Yes, I know it's strange.
"ACT OF BETRAYAL is a
chilling police procedural that centers on revenge. The story line is taut
as the action begins on page one and never eases up for a moment. Clever
twists with a fresh, unique mystery." - Painted Rock Reviews
His nickname is Cut, and he's trapped his
prey in the hot apartment. Tied up and helpless, Detective Leo Schultz's son
Rick can only watch in horror as Cut sets in motion a horrible death for
him. Schultz is devastated, but more is in store for him.
A little girl is coldly run down in the
street. The car belongs to Detective Schultz, and witnesses place him at the
scene.
PJ Gray is shocked when her partner's life
falls apart literally on her doorstep. Whom to believe? Whom to trust? The
answers lie buried in Schultz's past, and there are a few things there that
were better off hidden. The more she digs into Schultz's checkered career
with the St. Louis Police Department, the more she realizes that she doesn't
really know her partner after all.
More innocent lives are in jeopardy as PJ
scrambles to keep up with Cut's deadly agenda. She needs answers, but
Schultz deserts her just when the case heats up to white-hot and everything
around her seems cut loose from its familiar anchors. She knows it's time to
act - but is it Schultz who needs saving, or herself?
The body count goes up as prominent
members of the law enforcement and judicial communities are taken out. PJ
has just hours to prevent Schultz from suffering the same horrible fate as
his son. She will have to draw upon everything she's learned about Schultz's
past, and about the devious mind behind the killings ... and she fears she
doesn't know enough.
Oops! Are you missing a page from
Act of Betrayal? A production mishap caused a small percentage of
books to ship with a missing page. Click
here to read the text of the missing
page, and please accept my apology.
