Woods that are lovely, dark, deep. But mostly dark.
The Woods
By Harlan Coben
Dutton, 416 pp., $26.95
The Naming of the Dead
By Ian Rankin
Little, Brown, 464 pp., $24.99
The Missing
By Chris Mooney
Atria, 368 pp., $25
Harlan Coben's "The Woods" is a gripping legal thriller. Its smart, sympathetic protagonist, New Jersey county prosecutor Paul "Cope" Copeland, is a straight-arrow attorney, a widower raising a young daughter alone.
The book opens with Cope's father's death. His final words are: "We still need to find her." Her? Does his father mean Cope's sister, Camille, who police assumed was murdered at summer camp years earlier though her body was never found? Or does he mean Cope's mother , who vanished shortly after? Cope is still puzzling that out when police show up to talk to him. His name and address have been found in the pocket of a shooting victim. At the morgue, Cope recognizes the distinctive scar on the man's arm -- there was a similar scar on the arm of Gil Perez , who was presumed murdered with Camille, his body also never recovered. If Perez survived, maybe Camille did, too. Defying the police, Cope investigates, hoping that the trail into Perez's past will lead him to his sister.
Meanwhile, Cope has a rambunctious daughter to care for, a research foundation in his wife's name to manage, and cases to prosecute. As he prepares the case against a pair of frat boys accused of raping an exotic dancer, the rich father of one of the boys threatens Cope, doing everything he can to complicate his already complicated life.
The characters are authentic, the writing spare, and the courtroom drama so riveting that the clumsiness of the solution with its multiple perpetrators nearly slips by.
Ian Rankin's protagonist John Rebus is a far more morally ambiguous, crusty, and cantankerous bloke. He's not surprised when he's the only detective in Edinburgh banned from helping out with security at the G8 conference of world leaders in the 17th series novel, "The Naming of the Dead": "Rebus knew his place in the food chain: somewhere down among the plankton, the price for years of subordination and reckless conduct." Left behind, he's the only one on hand to take the call when a G8 delegate falls to his death from the ramparts of Edinburgh Castle during an official dinner there.
Rebus is also investigating the murder of Cyril Colliar, a local thug who served a 10-year jail term for a vicious rape. Rebus's partner, DS Siobhan Clarke , finds a patch from Colliar's jacket among rotting pieces of fabric that drip from tree branches deep in the woods in a spooky spot called the Clootie Well, a place of pilgrimage where people leave the bits of cloth for good luck or in remembrance. It's near Gleneagles luxury hotel, where the G8 leaders are meeting, and miles from Edinburgh, where Colliar was murdered. Investigators also find clothing at the well from two other murder victims, men who also served time for sex crimes.
Commander David Steelforth, in charge of G8 security, emerges as Rebus's nemesis. He's determined to have the G8 delegate's death ruled a suicide, and to keep the investigation of what looks like a vigilante serial killer under wraps until after the summit. Of course Rebus, who never met an authority figure he couldn't defy, won't knuckle under. Soon he and Siobhan find themselves in an unhealthy alliance with "Big Ger" Cafferty, a powerful criminal and recurring series villain, to find Colliar's killer.
Rankin intertwines the plots while revealing his characters' pasts, never spoon-feeding his readers clues or deductions. The settings, layered in with a thick, rich impasto, leisurely storytelling, and complex characterizations, are squarely in the British tradition. But Rebus, an embittered maverick who follows his own moral compass, is more in the American tradition of Sam Spade. Siobhan provides a perfect foil, still hopeful, still believing that what they do in law enforcement can make a difference.
Rebus may be nearing retirement, but happily he shows no signs of going gentle into that good night.
Chris Mooney's "The Missing" barely gives the reader a moment to catch a breath. It delivers suspense and mayhem from Page 1. A very nasty character is out there stalking women, capturing them, taking them to his dungeon, where he can have his way with them, and killing anyone who tries to interfere.
Darby McCormick is a witness of a similar crime. As a teenager, she watched helplessly as one friend's throat was slashed and another was abducted. Flash forward 23 years and Darby is a Boston homicide detective, looking into the kidnapping of teenager Carol Cranmore from her home and the murder of her boyfriend. While investigating the crime scene, Darby finds a dangerously delusional, emaciated woman hiding under the porch. Darby coaxes her out and realizes this sad creature could be another victim, possibly held and tortured for years. This case echoes Darby's past trauma, and soon the job of finding the missing girl before it's too late turns personal.
Mooney puts us in the villain's head, drooling over how he's going to torture and terrify the women he captures. Victims -- I lost count of how many -- are starved, hung, strangled, blown up, or axed, with barely a pause to note their passing. I yearned for more of the subtlety, nuance, and humanity abundant in Mooney's earlier novels.
Hallie Ephron's "Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel: How to Knock 'Em Dead With Style" has been nominated for an Edgar Award. Contact her through www.hallieephron.com. 
