Steven James is my favorite thriller writer, and The Queen did not disappoint.

Patrick Bower is back–this time in Wisconsin where he is tracking the serial killer he first put away as a detective. Now a FBI geographic profiler, he thinks he’s closed back in on the man. Before he can close that case he’s sent to serve as the lead FBI agent on what looks like a domestic murder-suicide. But things go much deeper than the surface. Before long he is tangled in a web that tangles the past and present and the two cases.

Like his others, The Queen is richly layered. The plots mix and mingle. Tessa, his stepdaughter is back, dealing with ongoing issues from prior cases. Then there’s Patrick’s brother. His colleagues. Past cases colliding with current cases. All the twists pulled me through the pages. The short chapters make it easy to think just one more page, one more scene. And Patrick and Tessa are familiar characters I like to spend time with. There’s a gut-level honesty and vulnerability in the way they act that makes them resonate.

While there are deaths, my husband and I noticed they are less graphic than past novels. These books aren’t for the faint of heart though.

Can’t wait for the next book!