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The Face of a Killer

Robin Burcell
Poisoned Pen Press (2008)
ISBN 9781590583746
Reviewed by Gina Holland for RebeccasReads (5/08)

“The Face of a Killer” -- Where do I begin? FBI agent and forensic artist Sydney Fitzpatrick is strong-willed, very intelligent and a one of a kind. When Sydney was a young girl, her father was murdered.  The police find evidence which points straight to Johnnie Wheeler, the accused.

One of Sydney’s current cases involves a woman named Tara Brown, who was brutally raped and left for dead. Tara is very afraid to describe her captor, however, once Sydney talks to her and makes her feel safe, she begins to remember certain pieces of the man’s features.  As Sydney begins to draw the sketch of the man from Tara’s description, it triggers a far-flung memory.  Sydney was convinced all along that the man in prison was definitely the one who killed her father, but the sketch of this man looks exactly like Johnnie Wheeler, the man awaiting execution for her father’s murder.

On the anniversary of her father’s death, Sydney decides there is something she needs to do. She wants to visit Johnnie Wheeler in prison and ask him why. Why did he kill her father? Sydney knows that if she goes to the prison, her mother and stepfather will object. Her mother is furious when Sydney tells her of her plan, but Sydney decides she has to go anyway. Sydney visits Wheeler in prison and so the doubts continue. Was it really Wheeler who killed her father? Or could it be someone else? Someone who has been torturing and hurting other women besides Tara Brown?

As we follow Sydney’s story, we laugh and we cry with her. We also fear for her. She has a reluctant partner in Carillo, but when these two put their heads together, they do some great work in uncovering the truth of her father’s murder. When Sydney discovers her family is in danger, she pushes herself to break the case. This is a great thriller. Robin Burcell has brought us into her real world as a Forensic Artist. She was both magnificent and thorough in her storytelling. I read this book in less than two days; it was so interesting, I could not put it down. I thank Ms. Burcell for bringing “The Face of a Killer” to us, and I look forward to her next release.

 

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