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Kellerman's latest Pete Decker/Rina Lazarus novel will join its predecessors at or near the top of most best-seller lists. The story begins with a teen prom queen who has been found dead in a fleabag motel, apparently strangled after a night of drink, drugs, and kinky sex. Handsome, clean-cut Chris Whitman has confessed to the killing, but LAPD detective Decker is uncomfortable with the easy resolution of the case and the way things just don't add up. Chris, the son of Mob boss Joe Donatti, is way too cool, too smooth, and too sure of himself. Evidence taken from the dead prom queen's body shows she had sex with at least one other person besides Whitman on the night she died. And sweet, innocent Teresa McLaughlin is in love with Whitman, but there's more to the romance than the usual teen hormonal attraction. So, despite his superiors' objections, Pete digs into the case more deeply and finds, to his horror, what really happened. Although the plot occasionally veers off into improbability, Kellerman keeps the suspense turned to high from beginning to end, and readers will find themselves thoroughly engaged and, as usual with Kellerman's books, well entertained. (Reviewed August 1995)0688046134Emily Melton

Continuing her series featuring LAPD homicide detective Peter Decker and his wife, Rina, Kellerman's latest concerns the prom-night murder of a high-school girl. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Terry, a bright but troubled teenager, is hired as a tutor by Chris Whitman, a handsome, wealthy, and popular boy in her school. When Chris's date is brutally murdered on prom night, he confesses to the murder. Terry successfully pleads with investigator Peter Decker to reopen the case because neither believes that Chris is guilty. Mitchell Greenberg reads well and captures the characters' various voices and emotions, employing a pace that maintains the excitement. VERDICT Although the print version debuted in 1995, this is recommended for Kellerman fans and mystery/thriller lovers.-Ilka Gordon, Aaron Garber Lib., Cleveland (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A psychopathic New York mob scion involved with a starry- eyed high-school seniorit spells trouble even before LAPD Sgt. Peter Decker joins the party. Prom night leaves Cheryl Diggs raped and strangled, her datedead-eyed Chris Whitmanlooking guilty as hell, and Chris's true love, Terry McLaughlin, who already knows about Chris's fondness for bondage, scared but certain that Chris couldn't have killed Cheryl. For all Terry's loyalty, Decker piles up an overwhelming case against Chris and reluctantly agrees to Lt. Tug Davidson's insistence that he overlook the nagging clues that implicate an unknown black malejust the kind of angle the LAPD doesn't need. So Chris, who swears he's in love with Terry, confesses to the killing to keep Terry's involvement secret and starts his hitch in the big house. Fade to blackexcept that Terry still can't believe Chris did it, and Decker can't ignore his own doubts, and a two-year-old case in Wilshire has an eerily similar MO. This time out, Kellerman (Grievous Sin, 1993, etc.) skims over Decker's home life to concentrate on crime and punishment. The result is unrelieved but highly effective melodrama, fleet and heavy-breathing, whose outrageous coincidences and third- quarter longueurs will be redeemed for her fans by three final surprises. (Author tour)