Murder in the Rainy Season, by Mike Billington.

There’s a serial killer on the loose on the worst kind- one who chooses victims with seemingly no connection between them making it nearly impossible for the police to predict his next move. His kills are swift and clean. He leaves nothing behind. He’s everyone’s worst nightmare. He’s a fanatic. He believes he has to kill demons and his victims are those supposed demons.

So where do the police start when there is nothing to go on and three people are dead? The safe and sleepy Florida town has been rocked by these tragedies. The police are under pressure. The reporters are circling. The higher ups are only hurting the investigation. Any everyone waits with bated breath for the next murder. People are no longer safe just opening their front door.

This is not the first book of Mike Billington’s that I’ve read and it for sure won’t be the last. He has this incredible talent of bringing all sorts of people into the story so that we can see the entire scope of the investigation from all sides. Police, reporters, politicians- heck, we even see a few of the murders from the victim’s point of view. That was probably the most poignant part- he was able to humanize the victim’s so that we felt something when they were killed. So many books only use victims as a way to turn villains into killers- if that makes sense. This book used them as a way to make us feel; a way to make us think.

I love the crisp writing and eclectic groups of characters that I’ve come to associate with Billington’s work. The story is complex, with all sorts of moving parts, but it reads as if it is simple and that’s no small feat. I always felt like I understood everything that was going on without having to overthink it, but the story was by no means a light weight.

Check it out!