Chain of Evidence

“Thriller writing at its best,” featuring a forensics detective who suspects his former mentor is exacting justice by murdering the most heinous criminals (Library Journal).

Detective Joe “Dart” Dartelli made one critical mistake in his police career: He chose to ignore a piece of evidence in a case labeled a suicide that might have been a murder. The dead man was himself a vicious woman-killer who more than deserved his fate, but that ignored evidence pointed to Dart's former mentor, the brilliant forensic specialist Walter Zeller. Now another suicide victim turns up—the body of a wife-beater—and the evidence clearly shows that the death was self-inflicted . . . or does it? Zeller was the best at reading and understanding the forensics of a crime scene—could he have manipulated it? Worse, why has Zeller disappeared? It terrifies Dart to suspect that Zeller is in fact on some twisted vigilante crusade, but Dart also knows that if he's right, only he can stop it.

Chain of Evidence is the intense, heart-pounding story of student versus mentor in the playing field of forensic investigation. Ridley Pearson links computer technology, psychological intensity, and complex questions of ethics to create this breathlessly paced, unputdownable thriller.

“Featuring bright local color, sound pacing . . . and those fabulous forensic deductions, this stands as one of the best novels yet by [Pearson]” —Publishers Weekly

“Some procedurals stress forensic detail, while others emphasize the multidimensional humanity of the cops. Pearson does both, and the combination continues to be unbeatable.” —Booklist