The Red Scream - Softcover

Mary Willis Walker

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0553571729 ISBN 13: 9780553571721

Publisher: Crimeline, 1995

Synopsis

Texas-based crime reporter Molly Cates has just  published her first book, describing the  blood-curdling exploits of serial killer Louie Bronk. Now on  death row, Louie's sentence is about to be carried  out. Molly will be there as a witness, and she  wants to write about it--the final coda to Louie's  story. But suddenly, she's being strongly  discouraged by her boss at the Lone Star  Monthly and by Charlie McFarland, the millionaire  real estate developer whose first wife, Tiny, was  Bronk's most famous victim--and the only one whose  murder is a capital offense. Then Molly starts to  receive dark hints that Louie may not have killed  Tiny after all. There is another murder following  Louis's M.O.--one he could not have committed.  The veracity of Molly's book is threatened--and then  her very life. Caught between a rock and a hard  place, Molly realizes that by attempting to save  Louis she is putting her own life on the line, and  discrediting her own work. Mary Willis Walker brings  a lusty new voice to the mystery scene. Already  recognized for her first novel, she has now created  a character just cheeky and gusty enough to take  her place among the top ranks of female  protagonists such as Kinsey Millhone and Kay Scarpetta.

About this title

Review

In this 1995 winner of the Edgar Award for best mystery novel, crime reporter Molly Cates has chronicled the exploits of Louie Bronk, a brutal serial killer scheduled for execution, for her first book. With his execution just a few days away, Molly decides to write the closing chapter on her disturbing relationship with the man known as the Texas Scalper. Strangely, both her boss and the husband of the woman whose murder got Bronk the death penalty pressure her to back off the story. When she receives a chilling anonymous letter and another body is found, she begins to suspect that Bronk is not the killer at all. Her quest for the truth, she discovers, not only discredits her work, but places her own life on the line.

From the Back Cover

"One of the creepiest killers since Hannibal Lecter meets a plot and heroine worthy of Patricia Cornwell. Welcome to the big time, Mary Willis Walker." --Kirkus Reviews.

"Remarkable." --Denver Post.

"A page-turning success." --Dallas Morning News

About this edition

• Publisher: Crimeline
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0553571729
• ISBN 13: 9780553571721
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 395