Listen To Me

Listen to Me by Tess Gerritsen is the thirteenth novel in the Rizzoli and Isles series. I have not read any of the previous books in the series, but I have watched every episode of the television series. This knowledge allowed me to read Listen to Me. Listen to Me is an engaging story. The story is told from Amy, Angela, Maura, and Jane's point-of-view. It did take me a little bit of time to adjust to the alternating POV. It does allow readers to see things from each character's perspective. There are a couple of different storylines in the book. There is the murder of nurse, a nineteen-year-old hit by a car, a missing teen, and Angela Rizzoli is worried about her mysterious new neighbors. I enjoyed following the various stories and seeing how it all came together in the end. There are some twists along the way (some expected and other are not). The characters are realistic and developed. I enjoyed learning more about Jane Rizzoli, Angela Rizzoli, Barry Frost, and Maura Isles. Vince is out of town taking care of his sister, but we get to interact with him through phone conversations with Angela. The mystery was well-plotted. I thought it was cleverly done. I enjoyed the challenge (it was a fun whodunit to solve). There are good clues to help readers identify the guilty party. It was great how all the various parts came together. I thought there was a good reveal and wrap-up. Jane's mother, Angela is certainly a busy body. I would not want her in my neighborhood. She knows everybody's business (and if she does not, she will make it her mission to learn it). Angela is a spunky woman. I like that Angela is with Vince. I am glad that I picked up Listen to Me. It has good characters and a thought-out mystery that makes for an enjoyable reading experience. Listen to Me is an intriguing mystery with a hit-and-run misfortune, a curious stalker, a slain nurse, new neighbors, a meddlesome mother, baffling burglaries, an absent teen, a marvel of a medical examiner, and a dedicated detective.

Listen To Me is the thirteenth book in the Rizzoli and Isles series by best-selling, award-wining American author, Tess Gerritsen. It's late spring when Boston PD Detective Jane Rizzoli and Pathologist Maura Isles are called to the murder scene of a fifty-two-year-old ICU nurse. It seems that Sonia Suarez returned home from work to disturb a burglar who bashed her skull with a hammer and took her purse, her cell phone and her laptop.

When Rizzoli and Detective Barry Frost talk to her shocked colleagues, none can believe anyone would have reason to kill this dedicated nurse. ICU director Dr Mike Antrim mentions the care she gave to his daughter, Amy, after her hit-and-run two months earlier. And that Sonia seemed troubled by a recent phone call.

Sonia's fifteen-year-old neighbour, Jamal Bird has a reputation for assisting the IT-naive with their devices, and helps Rizzoli and Frost to hack Sonia's email and internet search history which, together with her phone records, constitute a mystery that Jane can't let go.

At Sonia's funeral, Dr Antrim and his daughter become aware of a stalker: a man who seems vaguely familiar to Amy, and has her mother recalling a couple of hang-up calls. When she spots him again while shopping, Amy tells police she fears for her life. Rizzoli knows they need to protect this young woman, but it's only tangentially connected to her murder case, isn't it?

Rizzoli is regularly distracted for her work by calls from her mother. Now almost divorced and currently living alone, Angela Rizzoli takes pride in having her finger on the pulse of her neighbourhood, and is concerned by a local teen gone missing.

But what really grabs her attention is the couple who move in across the street, rebuff her offer of friendship, unpack their U-Haul after dark, and keep their blinds closed: what are they hiding?? Matt Green has a gun! And the bars he has put on their windows: are they to keep people out? Or to keep someone in? Because timid Carrie Green is never seen….

Despite Angie's careful attention to everything going on around her, she still manages to grasp the wrong end of several sticks, getting herself into hot water. However, her unhesitating heroic action probably saves a life, and she provides light relief interludes from the main story.

Once again, Gerritsen gives the reader a tightly-plotted tale with plenty of good detective work and some clever deduction. Maura Isles plays a small but significant role, and demonstrates that she has more than one string to her bow.

By about halfway through the story, Rizzoli's investigations offer sufficient clues that some may have settled on the who, but the how and why keep the pages turning, and even the most astute reader won't predict the final chilling chapter. This intriguing crime thriller is Gerritsen at her best.

This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Random House UK Transworld.