Search - Less than Dead (Bug Man, Bk 4)

Tim Downs' protagonist Nick Polchak, PhD ('the Bug Man') is back. Currently, he's working on a suspected serial killing case with forensic anthropologist Kegan Alexander under the direction of FBI Special Agent Donovan. With the aid of a backwoods dog trainer suspected of witchery, Nick aims to find out not just where the bodies were buried, but why. Nick's dry wit is one of the book's saving graces; the other is the taut plot that rarely meanders. I guessed the killer before the end, but I was enjoying the book too much to care.

Oddly enough, the book is tagged as Christian fiction at the local library where I picked it up, but there's little in the writing to suggest any character's religious beliefs (except the Lutheran pastor). There's a scripture before the first chapter which references the witch of Endor whom Saul spoke with, but otherwise there's little preaching here, just a decent, witty detective story.

This book is as good as all the other Tim Downs books--the bug man's sense of humor (admittedly twisted at times) keeps me smiling and even sometimes laughing out loud. I have never met a Bug Man novel I didn't love.