The Sinner by Tess Gerritsen
Ballentine Books
August 2004
Format: Paperback, 384 pages
First line: The driver refused to take him any further.
From the back cover: Not even the icy
temperatures of a typical New England winter can match the bone-chilling
scene of carnage discovered at the chapel of Our Lady of Divine Light.
Within the cloistered convent lie two nuns–one dead, one critically
injured–victims of an unspeakably savage attacker. The brutal crime
appears to be without motive, but medical examiner Maura Isles’s autopsy
of the dead woman yields a shocking surprise: Twenty-year-old Sister
Camille gave birth before she was murdered. Then another body is found,
mutilated beyond recognition. Together, Isles and homicide detective
Jane Rizzoli uncover an ancient horror that connects these terrible
slaughters. As long-buried secrets come to light, Maura Isles finds
herself drawn inexorably toward the heart of an investigation that
strikes close to home–and toward a dawning revelation about the killer’s
identity too shattering to consider.
My thoughts: This is the third in Tess Gerritsen’s Rizzoli and Isles series, a series that I love! Not only do I enjoy the books, but I also love the tv show Rizzoli and Isles. And, I like that they are different enough that I don’t need to worry about being behind in the books while watching the tv show.
The Sinner is quite the page turner and kept me up late each night, so caught up in the story that I needed to keep reading until I knew what happened. There are three incidents that at first glance appear to unrelated, but as Jane and Maura continue to investigate, it quickly becomes apparent they are indeed related. Taking us from a convent for aging nuns where one nun was killed and another critically injured to an alley where a murder victim has been found without her face, hands and feet to a village in India which was basically annihilated.
As Maura and Jane delve deeper into the mystery, the action keeps you engaged and eagerly anticipating what might come next. In addition, there are some side stories that give us more insight into the characters of both Jane and Maura. In fact, The Sinner is mainly told from Maura’s point of view, giving us more background on her. We meet Maura’s ex-husband, who’s visit to Boston is quite suspect. Jane is also dealing with some personal issues, mainly one surrounding her relationship with Agent Gabriel Dean.
Since starting this series, I’ve read the following books in the following order: The Surgeon (book #1), Last to Die (book #10), The Apprentice (book #2) and The Sinner (#3). Now, if you regularly read my blog, you know I prefer to read series in order, but the 10th book was published last year and I couldn’t resist being part of the tour. What I didn’t like about reading book 10 after only reading book 1 is that a lot of character development had occurred – so much so that at times, I felt like I was a bit in the dark. Now going back and reading books 2 and 3, some of those questions have been answered and I am really looking forward to reading the rest of the series to figure out the rest.
If you read series, do you have to read them in order or do you jump around?
(I purchased this book from a library book sale.)
Books in this series:
- The Surgeon 7. The Keepsake
- The Apprentice 8. Ice Cold
- The Sinner 9. The Silent Girl
- Body Double 9.5 Freaks
- Vanish 9.7 John Doe
- The Mephisto Club 10. Last to Die
I have 'The Silent Girl" coming next in TBR list. Now I can hardly wait! Thanks for the interesting review.