Mind Games by Nancy Mehl

Review:  I've read a number of novels by Nancy Mehl, and "Mind Games" is certainly my new favourite. The character of Kaely Quinn is inspired. An FBI Behavioral Analyst, Kaely Quinn is brilliant if not a little queer. She is emotionally damaged and considered an outsider by her peers, but her ability to get inside an UNSUB's mind is uncanny. Some in the FBI claim her ability comes from living with evil... as her father was a serial killer. Whatever the reasoning, Kaely is well known for her accurate profiles leading to successful arrests.

Life for Kaely is fairly settled as she works for a branch of the FBI profiling killers based on crime scene evidence. Then an UNSUB picks a new target. Her.

Through a series of complicated twists and turns, a clearly brilliant UNSUB begins to play the ultimate game of chess with Kaely. The end game? Her life. Racing against the clock, Kaely and her new partner struggle to keep a step ahead of the killer as he plays his vicious game.

This novel is full of plot twists that kept me entertained (and slightly on edge!) from the first page to the last. "Mind Games" is a mystery regarding a serial killer, and thus it goes without saying that this novel is dark; I would recommend it for a mature audience. However, Nancy Mehl refrained from becoming graphic with her descriptions, but the book is full of murder.

I enjoyed this novel a lot. It kept me guessing until the end and I was shocked at who the UNSUB ended up being. Yay for surprises! And Kaely Quinn is a well fleshed out and developed character - hoping to see more of her in another novel. Looks like this may be a new series? "Mind Games" is a great read for anyone looking to pick up a good murder mystery.

Thank-you to Graf Martin Communications and to Baker Publishing House for a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Back Cover: FBI Behavioral Analyst Kaely Quinn's methods may be highly unorthodox, but her talent is undeniable. She's done her best to establish a new life for herself after being demoted and transferred to St. Louis when a reporter revealed she's the daughter of an infamous serial killer. But when that same reporter claims to have received an anonymous poem predicting a string of murders, ending with Kaely's, it seems her old life has followed her.

When a body is found that fits the poem's morbid predictions, Kaely and her new partner, Special Agent Noah Hunter, are forced to move past his skepticism of her approach and work together to unravel the deadly riddle.

With a brazen serial killer who breaks all the normal patterns on the loose, Noah and Kaely must race to catch the murderer before anyone else, including Kaely, is killed.