Review - Subway Slayings by C.S. Poe

Everett Larkin is ready to go back on duty after recovering from injuries he received on his last case. He doesn’t even get to his desk in the squadroom before Larkin is called to the scene of a murder. It doesn’t look like a job for the cold case detective, but an old photograph of a dead girl says otherwise. Larkin once again partners with forensic artist Ira Doyle and together the pair uncover a murder spree that has gone on for decades. As usual, there’s more to the case than meets the eye, especially when it becomes clear that someone is watching Everett, and taunting him.

This second mystery in the Memento Mori series relies heavily on the people and events of the first book, so you will definitely want to read the books in order to have the full background on Everett and his unique personality. You will also want to consider the nature of the mystery here, which involves the murders of several teenagers, and whether that might be triggering.

We got to know Larkin and his unique form of hyperthymesia in the first volume of the series. As we saw, the condition is not the blessing it might seem, as it leaves the man vulnerable to PTSD-like panic attacks. Just about any random smell, sound or sight may trigger a vivid memory of past traumas, especially the one that created Larkin’s memory condition.

Ira seems to be one of the few people who can pull Larkin out of a spiral into an episode. We learn a lot more about Ira’s background in this story. It makes his ability to deal with Larkin much more understandable.

This is definitely an “onion” mystery, where the clues peel back bit by bit to lead our heroes to the murderer. This isn’t one of those mysteries where the killer isn’t obvious to the reader before it is to the detectives. Even when we think we have everything figured out, there are a few surprises still in store.

“Subway Slayings” is available from Smashwords or Amazon (commissionable link).