When a park ranger discovers the naked body of a woman in the Lake Mead National Park, the Las Vegas CSI team is called in to investigate. With Grissom away at a convention, Catherine Willows heads up the unit to try and discover why this woman's body would be left in such a public place - as if someone wanted her to be found. Catherine, Warrick & Nick do not know who the Jane Doe is, but they know that she was suffocated and then frozen after she died so they have no idea how long ago she was killed. When they discover that she is Missy Sherman, the housewife who disappeared without a trace over a year ago, they try to sift through year-old clues, jog old memories and find some suspects. But, in the end, they are forced to rely on small bits of evidence to track down the killer...
Meanwhile, in New York, Gil Grissom and Sara Sidle were lucky enough to make it to their hotel before a blizzard snowed them in. With the convention cancelled due to transportation issues, Grissom and Sara settle in to enjoy a weekend of rest when they stumble across the body of a man who has been shot and then set on fire in the snow. After a grueling stint guarding the body in the blizzard, a Canadian CSI teaches Sara and Grissom how to investigate clues in the snow. But with no backup and no crime lab to process the clues, Grissom has to use every bit of ingenuity he possesses to track down the killer before the blizzard ends and his killer is turned loose... I found this third book in the CSI series to be every bit as entertaining as the other books and the TV series. Collins does a great job at keeping the personalities of the TV characters consistent in the book and I can almost visualize how they would film the TV episode while I am reading. I enjoyed the Las Vegas plot with Catherine, Warrick & Nick more than the New York plot with Grissom & Sara, but it was interesting to find out how people process clues differently due to regional differences. If you enjoy the TV series you should enjoy the books - another great read by Collins! | ||
Plot & Themes Tone of story - very upbeat How difficult to spot villain? - Challenging Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 70% Special suspect? - best friend Misc. Murder Plotlets - solving long-past murder - - Proving innocence of very obvious suspect - Big focus on forensic evidence - Big focus on autopsies - Killer purposely leaves clues Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 20 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Ethnicity/Race Main Adversary Identity: - Female Age: - 20's-30's Profession/status: Eccentric: Yes Motive of antagonist - jealousy How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting United States Yes The US: - West City? Yes City: - Dirty, dangerous (like New York) Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - very gorey descriptions deaths/dead bodies A lot of techno jargon? Yes Kind of jargon? - biology/medical Unusual forms of death - asphyxiation - frozen - flamed - perforation--bullets Unusual form of death? Yes Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |