Death Trance: A Novel of Hypnotic Detection - Hardcover

Zimmerman, R. D.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688114512 ISBN 13: 9780688114510

Publisher: William Morrow & Co, 1992

Synopsis

A blind, paraplegic detective uses forensic hypnosis to delve into her brother's past and uncover clues to his lover's murder

About this title

From the Publisher

Alex. He witnessed the murder of a woman he loved, and somewhere in the events leading up to her death is the key to identifying her killer. But to find it, Alex needs to relive those terrifying months via hypnosis. Now, with the help of his sister, a forensic psychiatrist, he's journeying back into the dark recesses of his mind to experience the horror and pain again.

Maddy. Her investigative prowess isn't dimmed by the special challenges or her blindness -- or by the accident that has left her a paraplegic. Now she is guiding her brother into the past, listening as his subconscious memories create a montage of a killer, and coming up with a plan for justice that will endanger her own fragile life...

The stunning debut of a unique brother-sister detective team, Death Trance sheds fascinating new light on forensic hypnosis, a doorway into the mind's locked chambers of memory and terror.

"Hair-raising... Introducing a unique and charming heroine with an equally compelling supporting cast." -- Mostly Murder

"Finely crafted, elegantly written... A novel of sheer suspense -- it tales off at a run and never lets up." -- Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine

From Publishers Weekly

In this oddly compelling and suspenseful novel, Edgar nominee Zimmerman ( Dead Fall in Berlin ) steps to the very edge of credulity but avoids falling off. Technical writer Alex Phillips agrees to be hypnotized by his sister Maddy, a blind paraplegic clinical psychologist, to see if his subconscious holds any clues to the murder of his former lover Toni, a still-unsolved crime that he witnessed. Enigmatic Maddy takes Alex back a few months to the moment when Toni asks for his help, appearing in Minneapolis following the drowning of her sister Liz. Although the police label it suicide, Toni believes Liz was killed and convinces Alex to help her delve into her sister's affairs, which turn out to include a former boyfriend involved in a weird cult that may be responsible for the ritual killings of four young women. Slowly Alex's retelling arrives at Toni's murder, and although he didn't see the killer's face, his account provides Maddy with an invaluable clue. The author nicely integrates his frequent flashbacks into the narrative, which disappoints only with its contrived ending.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: William Morrow & Co
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0688114512
• ISBN 13: 9780688114510
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 254