Sleepy26177 reviewed on 4/14/2009 + 218 more book reviews

Since the case of The Rosary Girls as been successfully closed, Detective Kevin Byrne has mostly recovered from the shot to his head and a six week induced coma. The decision to return to the force or not is his but when he gets news that Julian Matisse has been released from jail after having done only 2 years in jail the decision is made for him. His partner Jessica Balzano welcomes her partner and they are both assigned to a breathtaking, unbelievable case:
Someone stages killing scenes from classic movies, cuts the fictional scene from a VHS tape and puts the new and real scene in its place. The tape is then left at rental stores, waiting for an unsuspecting customer to pick it up.

While Kevin tries to figure out the reasons for Matisse's early release, Jessica's investigation into The Actor's case brigs her to the shady world of pornography, drugs and nightclubs. And more tapes are being found by customers.

Time is short, not only for Jessica to solve the case but also for Kevin who parallel searches for clues about Matisse and the kidnapping of his new love Victoria.

The Skin Gods is difficult to compare to the previous novel The Rosary Girls. There is again a subplot which is worked by Byrne and his amazingly gut instincts but it didn't get me as much as in The Rosary Girls. The investigation as a team between Jessica and Kevin comes way too short with Kevin moving around mostly by his own.
The scheme of newly discovered suspects being killed by the actual killer has been used again and I couldn't find much new ideas in this novel.

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