Released September 2008 (Ballantine) * 368 pages * ISBN 13: 9780345497628

I should know better than to start one of Tess Gerritsen‘s books right before bed. I do it anyway because there is something delicious about being snuggled under a comforter with the wind howling outside, everyone else fast asleep, and being sucked into a world where danger lurks at every corner. And it’s a pretty safe bet that that’s what I’m going to get when I pick up one of Gerritsen’s books.

I have to confess that Tess Gerritsen is one of my favourite thriller writers because it’s evident that she’s always working to better her writing and because she goes where her interests lie instead of sticking to a cookie cutter formula that so many one-book-per-year authors do (that she can do that while putting out one book per year is even more impressive). I have read Tess Gerritsen’s romantic suspense from when she first started out, her medical thrillers, her Surgeon serial killer series, and her foray into science thrillers (Gravity
, which unfortunately was not given a chance by many readers expecting the-same-old-thing). Her last three books (The Mephisto Club, The Bone Garden, and The Keepsake) have delved into the past in some form or another and the nature of evil.

Last year’s book, The Bone Garden, was a bit of a departure from her other books in that it was set in the past with a frame story set in the present. It wasn’t one of my favourites (though I did enjoy it). The problem was more one of reading preference than anything to do with the book, so if the plot appeals to you by all means check it out.

Her new book, The Keepsake (known as Keeping the Dead in the UK) is a return to her thrillers set in the modern day. Like The Mephisto Club, someone has been hiding from a stalker for years and things come to a head during the book. In The Keepsake, a perfectly preserved mummy is discovered in the basement of a private museum. During a CT scan to authenticate the mummy, a discovery is made that leaves everyone puzzled: The mummy has a bullet imbedded in her leg and it got there while the mummy was still alive. Further investigation shows that this is a modern day murder victim. More victims are uncovered, preserved using some of the more gruesome preservation methods documented. Each victim contains a clue, but only one person knows what these clues are: References to a past better left buried. Messages from a killer: I am coming for you.

I am always happy when I am still guessing on the last page of a book and haven’t quite figured everything out. I am especially thrilled when everything makes sense at the end without resorting to coincidences or convoluted plot twists. That’s what I got from The Keepsake when I finally finished it at 3 am (not of the same night that I started, the next night — I don’t read quite that fast).

If you haven’t read Gerritsen’s other books then some of sections on the personal lives of the medical examiner and the investigating officers in The Keepsake may seem extraneous. It isn’t a big issue, but there isn’t much context to the medical examiner’s issues with her boyfriend (that context is given in previous books) so the passages dedicated to that relationship might seem a bit out of place to new readers.

In previous books the relationships were more tightly woven into the plot, whereas in this book it seems like the relationship issues of the characters are only continued because they were started in other books and long term readers would wonder about them if they weren’t addressed. It was something that stood out to me because it’s been a while since I read previous books featuring these characters. The momentum built up around the characters personal lives has dissipated in The Keepsake (particularly since The Bone Garden only deals with these characters fleetingly). Having said that, most of Gerritsen’s books can be read as stand alone books. There are a few that should be read in a specific order, but The Keepsake isn’t one of them (unless it’s really vital to you to know the background to the characters personal lives, but it’s not vital to enjoying the book).

The Keepsake is a book that I will be rereading and that’s the highest compliment I can give a book (I wait a year until I’ve forgotten the details so there’s suspense all over again). You can track down Tess Gerritsen’s books at Bookcloseouts, Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, and Amazon.co.uk.

Note for new Gerritsen readers: Be aware that the publisher Mira (which owns Harlequin) periodically re-releases Gerritsen’s early Harlequin novels. Check the publisher even if the publication date is new to make sure you’re not buying a renamed and repackaged Harlequin novel (see Tess Gerritsen’s post on this issue on her blog). I have read some of Gerritsen’s Harlequin novels and they are good Harlequins, but they are Harlequins and not nearly as sophisticated in plot as her later books.

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2. Say Goodbye by Lisa Gardner (Review)
3. First Daughter by Eric van Lustbader (Review)
4. 20 Master Plots by Ronald T. Tobias (Review)
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