Blindman's Bluff

June 15, 2009
In bestseller Kellerman's solid 18th novel to feature L.A. police detective Lt. Peter Decker and his wife, Rina (after The Mercedes Coffin
), Rina finds that some jury duty should include hazardous duty pay. A shooting rampage at the 70-acre compound and mansion owned by shopping mall magnate Guy Kaffey leaves Kaffey, his wife and two guards dead. Kaffey's oldest son, Gil, apparently was left for dead and two other guards are missing. A plethora of suspects and motives has Decker and his colleagues looking at Guy's brother, Mace, and Guy's younger son, Grant, as well as the missing guards, other household staff, the remaining off-duty staff and possibly business rivals. Decker's cool professionalism is thoroughly tested when a chance courtroom encounter thrusts Rina into the case and puts her in harm's way. Kellerman expertly keeps interlocking investigations moving along with a minimum of confusion but plenty of doubt as to the guilty party or parties.

August 10, 2009
When billionaire developer Guy Kaffey, his wife and assorted employees are brutally murdered, police lieutenant Pete Decker investigates the motives and alibis of the remaining Kaffeys, while Rina, out on jury duty, is largely absent from the main plot. It's a fortuitous development: Mitchell Greenberg offers a slight shift in pitch for Rina, but he shines when capturing the tough-but-reasonable Decker, the gruff-but-romantic detective Scott, and the many members of a Mexican family, whose accented English he performs with subtlety and finesse. A Morrow hardcover (Reviews, Jun. 15).