In the Belly of Jonah by Sandra Brannan is the first book in the “Liv Bergen” mystery series. Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group Press, September 2010

A window cut into a girl’s body sets off a desperate search for a serial killer with an artistic bent.

Liv “Boots” Bergen is shocked when the body of a stunning college intern working in her Colorado limestone quarry is found on the shores of a nearby reservoir. Clues are scarce—except that the crime scene appears to be a macabre, intricately staged tableau.

Soon after, Liv gets a call from a former classmate who’s become an FBI profiler. Lisa Henry explains that the murder is not the first of its kind. Driven by her need to find the man who could commit such a depraved act, the headstrong Liv becomes caught up in the pursuit of a madman with a perverse, unquenchable appetite both for women and for surrealistic art.

As she assists her profiler friend and another FBI agent, Streeter Pierce—legendary for his crime-solving skill and striking good looks—Liv discovers she may have her own knack for outwitting and tracking down the most brutal murderer Colorado has ever seen. But in doing so, she will put her friends, her family, and her own safety at risk. How many bodies will pile up before the so-called Venus de Milo murderer is caught?

Wow, what a read. When Liv’s employee is brutally murdered, it is soon learned that she’s a victim of a vicious serial killer. Helping her friend, an FBI agent, with some theories, lands Liv in the path of the serial killer when his victims hit closer to home. With determination, Liv, the FBI and the local police are on the hunt to stop this killer before he claims another victim. This book captured my attention immediately and I could not put this book down. With a well-written and diabolical plot, this book kept me riveted to the pages. This action-moving drama with a strong female lead will have your pulse accelerating as it nears a heart-stomping conclusion. I look forward to reading the next book, Lot’s Return to Sodom, in this gripping and suspenseful series.

*new-to-me author