also pretty much an all-around computer genius like Penelope from Criminal Minds on steroids, who can do whatever is needed to solve a particular problem (not always in a legal manner). She’s a former FBI agent turned Homeland Security investigator with lots of field experience bringing down America’s most wanted. After their success in catching a serial killer in Fatal Intrusion, the first novel in the series, they are now the sole human members of an elite task force called “Intrusion Investigations” or “I-squared.” I say “human” members because they have a talking AI assistant named Declan, who’s a cross between Sherlock Holmes and Alexa.

Their current case is the murder of a bridegroom at a wedding venue, which the killer staged to make it look like an accident. Declan, who apparently has much free time to scour the world for such things, spots similarities between this death and two recent deaths in Italy. The powers-that-be who oversee I-squared dub the perpetrator the “Honeymoon Killer,” and Sanchez and Heron are off to the races. This case represents a considerable improvement in I-squared’s deductive capabilities over Sanchez and Heron’s first efforts in the previous book. The earlier killer claimed several victims before Sanchez became aware of him; here, they are on to the man before he goes after his second American victim. 

I must admit I had a hard time buying into the numerous coincidences that drive the plot of The Grave Artist. Foremost of the implausibilities are the seemingly supernatural abilities of Declan and Heron to predict the killer’s next move. As often happens in books like this, the killer is a near-genius himself who claims to have perfected Serial Killing 2.0. Unfortunately, when up against Sanchez and Heron, he seems to need a remedial course.

The authors realize the tenuous nature of keeping reader interest here, and boost that interest by maintaining a hectic pace throughout the story. As in many similar books, the authors give a detailed explanation for the killer’s ritualistic actions. However, they do so organically as the novel progresses, so readers gradually learn what makes the killer tick. (He proves to be a fascinating case study of psychopathy.) Meanwhile, the novel’s action moves from the initial murder site to a cemetery to another luxury hotel that I-squared has identified as the location for the killer’s next attempted murder. The hunt for the killer on the hotel grounds becomes an extremely suspenseful cat-and-mouse game, one of several such gripping sequences in the book.

Jeffery Deaver is renowned for his plot twists and surprise endings, and the book contains numerous such twists. Most of them require careful stage setting earlier in the book for an eventual payoff later. As a result, The Grave Artist has several subplots and seemingly unrelated storylines in the early chapters. One character particularly annoyed me, a stereotyped superior official at DHS whose only function seems to be to get in the way of the ongoing investigation in pursuit of his own agenda. His storyline could have been handled in a less obtrusive manner. As a whole, the various subplots in The Grave Artist make the initial chapters slow going and sometimes confusing. Fortunately, once the authors pick up the pace, readers will be sucked along and hit with one surprising twist after another in rapid succession.

Sanchez and Heron are likable protagonists, and the authors drop hints of a possible budding romantic relationship in upcoming stories. However, I actually found one of the secondary characters more interesting than the two of them. Sanchez’s sister Selina, who was a victim who survived in Fatal Intrusion, also plays a key role in the investigation here. She’s not old enough to drink yet, but old enough to lend a vital hand when needed.

In The Grave Artist, the authors have mastered the old stage illusionist’s trick for fooling the audience. Keep the action going and moving from one place and subplot to another, and readers won’t focus on how incredible the storyline actually is. Instead, they’ll enjoy the action, suspense, fast pace, and surprise plot twists. The Grave Artist is a great summer read for genre fans looking for a fast-paced page-turner.

NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.