From Publishers Weekly Frasier (Sleep Tight, etc.) has perfected the art of making a reader's skin crawl, which is evident from this book's very first scene, in which a medical examiner discovers in the midst of an autopsy that the cadaver he's working on is really a live person. Set in Savannah, Ga., this exceptional thriller follows the hunt for the deranged person who's drugging people so that their minds remain wide awake even as their bodies resemble death. The creepiness factor increases when Frasier introduces homicide detective Elise Sandburg, who was abandoned in a cemetery as a baby and who knows Gullah spells and culture. Elise's partner, anti-social David Gould, is equally strange; his past holds secrets so dark he should be under psychiatric care. Formerly with the FBI, Gould currently lives in a rundown, foul-smelling apartment and sleeps with a prostitute who works for a voodoo priestess. As the two detectives follow leads to the priestess and the former college professor who researched the drug, they forge a tentative bond and come to terms with their own troubled pasts. Frasier's characters are not only fully realized, but fascinating to boot, and she evokes the dark, mystical side of Savannah with precision and skill. Appropriately, this unsettling tale closes with a grim children's rhyme and a spell for "Elise's Follow-Me-Boy Mojo."

From Publishers Weekly Women who dye their hair blonde may think twice before heading to the salon after reading Frasier's (Hush) enthralling thriller about a serial killer who plucks the eyes out of his young blonde victims and grafts rose stems onto their fingers-all in an effort to create the perfect woman. Minneapolis FBI agent Mary Cantrell has a personal interest in the latest string of murders taking place in her hometown. The killer may very well be an old high school classmate named Gavin Hitchcock, who was convicted of raping and murdering her best friend and then released after serving nine years in prison. But when the abductions persist even after Gavin is returned to custody, Mary's sister, Gillian, a local cop who's befriended Gavin and believes him to be innocent, goes undercover to trap the real killer. Some vivid autopsy scenes may turn the stomachs of the squeamish, but there's a lot more to this clever intrigue than graphic police procedures. Indeed, one of Frasier's many strengths is her ability create characters and relationships that are as compelling as the mystery itself. From the estranged Cantrell sisters and their broad-minded mother to Mary's handsome partner and the troubled Gavin, Frasier's well-rounded characters will linger with readers long after the killer is caught