Title:
The Delilah ComplexAuthor:
M. J. RosePublisher: Mira (Paperback Original)
Publication Date: January 2006
ISBN: 0-7783-2215-7
Series Character(s): Dr. Morgan Snow
Entry in Series: Second
The Delilah Complex is the second mystery (after
The Halo Effect) to feature sex therapist Dr. Morgan Snow, a specialist at The Butterfield Institute in New York City.
About the book: The Scarlet Society is a secret club of twelve powerful and sexually adventurous women. But when a photograph of the body of one of the men they’ve recruited to dominate – strapped to a gurney, the number 1 inked on the sole of his foot – is sent to the New York Times, they are shocked and frightened. Unable to deal with the tragedy, the women turn to Dr. Morgan Snow. But what starts out as grief counseling quickly becomes a serial murder investigation when a second and then a third photograph of men in identical situations and sequential numbers on their feet are delivered, with any one of the twelve women a potential suspect.
This is an unusually effective mystery. Though there is very little action in the book, the pace of the story is brisk. The characters are all believable and their interrelationships true to both the story and each other. Though the author is generous with clues throughout the book, the somewhat lurid ending will no doubt come as a surprise to some readers.
Dr. Morgan Snow is a very interesting character. Her education and experience has taught her to help others come to terms with their problems, yet she, herself, is full of conflicts: she has the normal issues of being the divorced parent of an adolescent who may be on better terms with her father than her mother; she is unsure of the personal relationship she has with the detective handling the case; she is torn between treating her mentor at the institute as both a mother-figure and a colleague; and her professional ethics dictate a course of action that may be at odds with solving the mystery. This is a character that has the potential of continuing to grow and be of interest to readers for many mysteries to come.
Special thanks to
Book Trends for providing the ARC of
The Delilah Complex for this review.
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