Ten Days Gone (An A.L. McKittridge Novel)

“This fast-paced tale is filled with suspense, offering hair-raising scenarios and just the right amount of tension, while backstories of both of the detective's lives are explored to give the novel roundness and more impact.”

A serial killer is on the loose, and Detectives A.L. McKittridge and Rena Morgan are trying desperately to apprehend him or her. Four women have been slain in 40 days and the strange thing about this case is that the murders occur every tenth day. Could the number ten signify something special to whoever is committing these crimes? 

Through intense sleuthing, they discover the common denominator between the murder victims is that they had signed a petition with the Baywood Historic Preservation to preserve the old Gizer Hotel, which developers want to buy and raze for new construction. The preservation committee hopes to get enough signatures to prevent the destruction of the historical property. The weird thing they notice upon perusing the list is that each of the slain women who had signed this appeal were ten names apart. Surprisingly, these murders occurred ten days apart. 

"Once the pattern of ten days had been established, he [A.L.] and Rena had agreed that any killer tied to a specific date wasn't likely to leave the [next] victim to chance."

The days are counting down and time is short before the next signer is found. Trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together is a challenging effort for the two tireless officers of the law, and crime like this is not usual in their small town of Baywood, Wisconsin. 

Upon encountering the fourth slain woman, A.L. and Rena agree they had never seen anything like this before:
"The three other victims, ranging in age from thirty-two to forty-eight, have all been found naked, with their clothes folded neatly in a pile next to them.

"No signs of struggle, in their houses or on their persons. No robbery. No sexual assault. 

"No fucking physical evidence, not even a little skin or blood under their fingernails. Just some cotton fibers, as if their killer had made them wear gloves while he killed them. But those were never left at the scene. Nor was the pillow. With so little to go on, they'd looked for connections between the three women. Had come up dry." 

Now that they have the petition to tie these deaths together, they desperately search for the next in line who happens to be Tess Lyons. Tess is a young woman who unfortunately suffered a shark attack while surfing, resulting in the loss of her arm. Locating her isn't easy when they learn she's out of town and on a downward spiral. When they do contact her, her attitude is uncaring. Because of her accident, she has no desire to live and does not care if she is the next target. But when it appears the killer is targeting her daughter, she jumps into action to do anything to keep the young woman safe. 

With Tess’s offer to help will the two detectives be able to apprehend this maniac and prevent more killings? They protect her, though use her as bait so they can apprehend the perpetrator and stop his or her murderous spree. When the killer is finally identified the chase is on to capture him with harrowing results.

This fast-paced tale is filled with suspense, offering hair-raising scenarios and just the right amount of tension, while backstories of both of the detective's lives are explored to give the novel roundness and more impact.