Inside the desperate world of TV ratings, an investigative reporter discovers that a serial killer is targeting women named Susan and killing one on the same day each year.
Julie Kramer is a freelance television news producer for NBC's Today show, Nightly News and Dateline. Prior to that, she was a national award-winning investigative producer for WCCO-TV in Minneapolis. She lives in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, with her husband and sons.
Kramer's impressive debut, a thriller, introduces Riley Spartz, a Twin Cities investigative TV journalist. Riley's favorite source, a former Minneapolis homicide detective, suspects a serial killer is behind two cold murder cases of women named Susan strangled on November 19 one year apart. Still grieving for her late patrolman husband, Riley relishes the distraction of a possible hot story. After discovering that a raincoat links the two victims, one a 26-year-old waitress, the other a teen prostitute, Riley unearths other cases that may fit the pattern, including the apparently solved murder of a former Miss Duluth and the suspicious suicide of a terminally ill woman. Kramer, a freelance television producer, delivers more than another ho-hum remix of a 48 Hours episode thanks to a snappy subplot--Riley's exposure of a bad veterinarian doing scam pet cremations. Readers will look forward to seeing a lot more of the appealing Riley, who cares about justice as much as snagging at least a 40 audience share. (July) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
Drawing on her experience as a TV news producer, Kramer has crafted an engrossing and suspenseful debut thriller focusing on investigative reporter Riley Spartz and full of memorable characters and convincing insight into broadcast journalism. Bernadette Dunne, whose Audie Award-nominated reading of Elizabeth Cohen's The House on Beartown Road was a Best Audiobook of 2004 (LJ 6/1/04), skillfully captures the story's personalities and emotions while maintaining pace and tension. A compelling and addictive production; highly recommended for public libraries. [Audio clip available through library.booksontape.com; watch the book trailer at www.juliekramerbooks.com/trailer.php; the Doubleday hc was recommended "for all public libraries," LJ 7/08.--Ed.]--Melody A. Moxley, Rowan P.L., Salisbury, NC Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
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