In Avon County, Pennsylvania, Homicide Detective Evan Crosby is sick when he sees the fourth victim in under a month. Each casualty was pretty young female, ages 12 - 14, attending a private school, and left without shoes. His lover, FBI profiler Annie Marie McCall tries to give him solace, but knows how difficult coping with this case is.

At the wedding of Annie's sister to a Shield sibling, Evan feels left out as the happy occasion is more a wake to FBI Agent Thomas Shield, who was assassinated. Upset, Evan leaves when another girl is killed without a word to Annie who is inside the Shield zone since Thomas was her fiancé, which bans the detective from entry. Not long afterward, knowing she needs closure, Evan offers a fresh pair of eyes in investigating the murder. As they work together on the Shield murder and the serial killings, an agency insider watches them very closely because he will have them eliminated if they get to close to him or his young girl black market ring.

The fourth Dead tale is a potent romantic suspense tale starring two likable protagonists in love yet struggling to form a relationship because of the ghost of her murdered fiancé. The Shield Zone is tighter than ever, denser than a black hole as no matter escapes this closely knit family to the chagrin of Evan. Annie is terrific as she balances her second strike of love's lightning bolt with her first hit, but still needs closure, which Evan knows means uncovering who killed Thomas. Mariah Stewart is dead on with this tale and series.

REVIEWED BY HARRIET KLAUSNER

DO NOT REPRINT WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE REVIEWER, HARRIET KLAUSNER