THE ELEVENTH VICTIM
by Nancy Grace
Hyperion
114 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10011
ISBN: 9781401303457
www.harpercollins.com

Hailey Dean’s interest in psychology falters when her fiancée is murdered weeks before their wedding. From that point, Hailey, committed to seeking justice, obtains her law degree. As an assistant district attorney Atlanta, she becomes known for her success record and vigilance in seeing criminals fully prosecuted. But her final case, that of a serial killer who murders prostitutes, takes its toll. After the killer is sentenced to death, Hailey packs up her belongings and heads to New York City, where she begins her psychology practice in hopes of leaving her past behind. But two years later, two of her patients are murdered, similar to those in Atlanta, and the evidence points to Hailey, who must find the killer before she herself ends up on death row.

Grace’s fiction debut seems to be loosely based on herself, which is interesting, but at times reads like a first novel with awkward dialogue, overuse of exclamation points, and repetitions of the same words. Confusing to this reviewer are the two separate plots which are not related to one another and the way the author switches back and forth between the two. Each is viable enough to stand alone without sharing space in the same book. Hailey Dean is a very likable character and the mystery regarding her portion of the book intriguing, although inconsistencies (such as the fact that the serial killer’s conviction is reversed and no one seems to know about it) are distracting. Now that Dean has established herself as a mystery writer, it will be interesting to see what’s next.