Good Reads: Deeper Than The Dead

One fall day in 1985 in Oak Knoll, Calif., fifth-grader Tommy Crane and his sidekick, Wendy Morgan, are fleeing the class bully, Dennis Farman, through a local park when Tommy stumbles over the head of a dead woman buried up to her neck. Two hours from Los Angeles, Oak Knoll is not the sort of town where major crime is a problem, but a serial killer is on the loose who's already murdered and tortured several women and has another on deck in his secret lair. Fifth-grade teacher Anne Navarre, who counsels Tommy and Wendy, is soon at the center of the investigation being led by a hunky FBI agent, Vince Leone. --Publishers Weekly

I  have read nearly all of Tami Hoag's mysteries and her talent really shines in this one! It is a thoroughly unique story for her as it is set in 1985, before the use of many of today's modern forensic techniques. I love the setting and its incorporation of four 5th graders as major characters, because I myself was a 5th grader in 1985. The children think and behave much as I did way back then and their characterizations rang really true to me.

Beyond that, what I enjoy most about this book is the character of Vince Leone, who is at the forefront of profiling in criminal investigations. I have read and enjoyed all of John Douglas's nonfiction works on his years as an FBI profiler, and I was extremely pleased to see Mr. Douglas as a character in this book, along with a few of the other legends who made profiling what it is today. Ms. Hoag has masterfully converged fiction and nonfiction in this story.

As usual for Ms. Hoag the mystery is gripping, the suspense is chilling, the killer is terrifying, and I couldn't wait to find out who he was! Mystery fans will love this book and longtime fans of Ms. Hoag will be especially thrilled with this!