Book Review: Overkill

Reviewed By: Webspinner - RAM

Overkill     Amazon US TPB Amazon Canada TPB
Susan McBride
Class/Genre:   Mystery
Series: Maggie Ryan - 2 # 2
Mayhaven Publishing; Oct 2001; 255pp

A shooting on a school bus. Words to bring panic to the heart of any parent or police officer, and Maggie Ryan is no different. But this shouldn't be happening in Litchfield, Texas - a small, quiet little town. Maggie left Fort Worth PD to get away from gangs, murders and rapes. Now she is in the middle of a nightmare. Someone shot the driver and a passenger on a Special Ed bus on it's way to school.

But . . . of all the possible victims, why did someone choose sweet, happy, Paulette Thomas? To Maggie Ryan, this case makes less sense all the time. How could a child suffering from Williams' syndrome have offended anyone enough for them to kill her? Maggie is sure that Paulette was deliberately targeted, but is at a loss for the reason. Each parent blames the other for Paulette's death, and Maggie becomes convinced that there is something more to Paulette's death than the random violence first suggested.

This is the second Maggie Ryan novel, and I'm going to have to go back and find the first, because this is definitely a character I want to know better. Susan McBride has written a well-plotted, intense story that takes you inside Maggie Ryan to understand the conflicts between her own life and her job, her relationship with mother, and her fight to preserve her own sanity. Well worth reading, this should become a "must" series for mystery readers.

Webspinner - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Webspinner - RAM