Imposter

When a young mother is found murdered in her Mayo, Ireland home, psychologist and criminal profiler Alex Gregory is asked to consult. Traveling from the English prison hospital where he struggles in vain to help another mother, an abuser who won’t face her past, he worries that the Irish police and other locals will see him as a big shot coming to belittle them. He’s right to be worried, but more problematic than his background is that the locals are wary of profiling and of Alex’s questioning of them. This is where the protagonist’s history treating manipulative patients comes wonderfully to the fore; he’s both kind to those he meets and able to see right through their ways and fears, abilities that will endear him to readers. The small town comes to life through the psychologist’s astute observations of its inhabitants, with past relationships and scandals enriching the whodunit puzzle, which is topped off with a satisfying twist. Ross’s several series have just become available in the United States, so, happily, there’s much more where this came from.—Henrietta Thornton