Jeffrey Tolliver is the local police chief and Sara’s ex-husband. They were divorced after he was unfaithful, but he has not stopped loving her. He wanted her to fight for their marriage. Called to the crime scene, Jeffrey recognizes the victim as the twin sister of his detective Selena Adams. Sara conducts an autopsy and discovers the gruesome extent of the murderer’s violation.

In spite of Jeffrey’s attempt to limit her involvement in the investigation, Lena is determined to be actively included. A visit to the university to question the victim’s colleagues turns up the disturbing information that a coed has been missing for two days. Initially, it’s believed that the two incidents are unrelated, but soon there will be indications that only one perpetrator is at work.

Blindsighted is a difficult mystery to synopsize because there are more secrets to uncover than merely the identity of the rapist/murderer. It falls into the police procedural mystery category but has more depth than some others in the genre. This is the first book in an intended trilogy so some aspects of the story may be included to lay down a foundation for future books. There is an emphasis on character development; personalities and interpersonal relationships of the various characters play a more extensive role than in many single story mysteries. The personal histories of the three main characters, Sara, Jeffrey, and Lena, are gradually divulged over the course of the story. In particular, clues are sprinkled throughout the narrative hinting at a dark - and ultimately relevant -incident in Sara’s past.

The whodunit is satisfyingly complex. I eventually figured out the who, but the why is much more obtuse although a few clues are there for the very astute reader.

The GV rating needs explanation. Ordinarily, I rate a book as having graphic violence when the story features wholesale slaughter and the ground is littered with corpses. By that standard, Blindsighted is restrained - there are many fewer victims and most of the crimes are committed off-site - but the specifics of the crimes are far more perverted than those depicted in most fiction so a V rating indicating standard violence might be somewhat misleading.

Blindsighted is a very promising debut to the proposed trilogy. Sometimes a story grabs you from the very first chapter and won’t let go until the final line. That was my experience with Blindsighted. I became engaged by the characters -especially Sara - and will be looking forward to the sequels. I strongly recommend it to other mystery fans.

--Lesley Dunlap