It was Christmas Eve and death stalked the living on this holiday night." This near-opening line starts the prologue to the most convoluted mystery this reviewer has had the pleasure of reading. Mr. Death is lurking in an alley watching through a dingy window at a party that is in full swing.

Ah, yes. There she is, moving among the partiers in a strapless, shimmering, golden, form-fitting dress. Soon, Dr. Death panted, she would be all his. The thought made his blood surge and his manhood respond to the ultimate gratification -- death.

Chapter One introduces the reader to FBI Agent Jake Daniels, and to Profiler Martine Joyner who, on Christmas morning, are investigating the gruesome murder and mutilation of what was once an attractive young woman. Like the others, she is hardly recognizable because her face has been terribly mutilated. How many more will there be before this trail of torture ends?

Jake is greatly upset that the brass won't support him with these investigations, nor will they admit there is a serial killer on the loose. Enough women have been murdered that the media has dubbed these as being done by the Holiday Killer. One field agent's career was almost ruined when he failed to catch this maniac the year before. Was someone now after Jake's job? The first agent's problem added to Jake's zealousness to catch the mad man, and to reassure that no other woman died the way all of these tortured women had.

While the body is being removed from the scene, Jake receives a call that there is another body in the park. The MO is the same with one exception; this is the body of a man. Could this, then, be a copycat killing?

If not, what made the maniac change the gender of his victim?

The murders hadn't started until Valentine's Day the year before. Why then and not New Years day? Just the first question that starts lots of puzzles that Jake must solve. What made this monster cut out a woman's heart on Valentine's Day? April first he removed his next victim's brain and put it into a port-a-potty next to her. Not a funny April Fools joke; no one laughed. On Labor Day he took out a woman's uterus. On Halloween night the soles of a woman's feet were cut off. Thanksgiving he trussed up another woman and chopped off her head. Why the weird theatrical layout of this sicko's victims?

The more Jake investigates, the more he knows he has come up against the Devil personified. And he and Marty work hard to find the details.

Ms. Overton has given the reader a most fascinating mystery to work on. The details are here, but where the devil are they? If you think you are stumped, then you'll know what Jake is up against. You won't figure this one out. An A-number-one book.

Reviewer: Shirley Truax, Member RIO
For Ivy Quill Reviews

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Nothing is ever what it appears to be when the Devil is in the details.

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS is the first novel in a new series of mysteries by Ariana Overton. Overton's previous credits include the paranormal Glass House trilogy (GLASS HOUSE, A GLASS DARKLY, LOOKING GLASS) and time-travel novel TAPESTRY. THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS introduces FBI agent Jake Daniels and his "dream team" of scruffy but savvy investigators: psychologist and Daniel's childhood friend Dr. Martine "Marti" Joyner, former San Francisco policeman M.M. "Sam" Quigley, and strip club owner and computer whiz "Tigger" Tiggs.

When we meet Daniels he is well on his way to drinking himself out of a pension, the agent haunted by the murders of his wife and partner, both victims of serial killers during the past two years. His career in a nosedive, the FBI assigns Daniels to the northern California community of Santa Rosa to stop a maniac who has butchered five women since Valentine's Day. The FBI claims that apprehending "The Holiday Killer" is Daniels' last chance to rescue his career.or so it appears. Daniels knows one agent has already been dismissed in disgrace from the case for failing to stop the Santa Rosa murders. However, he is not too blitzed to realize the FBI expects him to fail, to justify their finally firing him.

What neither Daniels or the FBI could have counted on was his uncovering evidence suggesting The Holiday Killer may have had a hand in his wife's murder.

Daniels' efforts to discover the truth are complicated by Santa Rosa Police Chief Hartigan and the local coroner, Dr. Russell, who resent the FBI agent.or so it appears. Neither will help him any more than is necessary, and Daniels suspects they may even be trying to sabotage his investigation. If it weren't for his own team of investigators and two token Santa Rosa policemen assigned to help them, Brian Denton and Cameron Parker, Daniels' task would be hopeless. Meanwhile an aggressive television journalist, Connie Braxton, is determined to get the scoop on The Holiday Killer's identity.or so it appears. Her commitment sometimes seems to border on the pathological. She will do anything to uncover The Holiday Killer's identity, including jeopardizing the career of one of Daniels' team by seducing him.

Overton has created an intriguing cast of characters for THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS, as well as weaves an intricate plot in a fashion that is entertaining and easy to follow. She will not lose you or bore you, though the book does start off slowly, much in the manner of a Tom Clancy novel. Like Clancy, though, once Overton's characters and situations have all been properly introduced and set in motion, her novel will carry you away.

Be warned, this is a rough book that deals with sexual perversion and mutilation. To her credit Overton does not dwell on every seamy or gory detail, as other authors are wont to do; however, she does not shy away from them. Daniels' team is pursuing a clever and elusive homicidal maniac, after all. But Overton, a mature authoress, makes certain that her novel's suspense and tragedy are as real as its blood. She is to be complimented for that, as well as her gift for juggling suspects and plot twists with the adroitness of a street busker. At one point or another almost every character in THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS falls under suspicion of being The Holiday Killer. Even Daniels! That is one neat trick, as is Overton's ability to create reader sympathy for Daniels in her novel's early pages. It is not easy to feel sorry for a drunken protagonist who has lost confidence in himself, but Overton succeeds. What's more, when Daniels does defeat the demons that haunt him, awakes from his melancholy, and dedicates himself to stopping the maniac, he establishes himself as a hero worthy of challenging the devilish and daring Holiday Killer.

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS is a thrilling launch to a new series of mysteries. Ariana Overton is going to win over a lot of new fans and please a lot of old ones with this novel.

By Steven Philip Jones
Author of King of Harlem
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