The Chill of Night by James Hayman is the second book in the “Det. Michael McCabe” thriller series. Publisher: Minotaur Books, June 2010
Fresh off the success of The Cutting, James Hayman brings Detective Michael McCabe back in an even more powerful tale of duplicity, murder, and revenge.
Beautiful, brilliant, and ambitious, Lainie Goff has overcome a nightmarish past to achieve remarkable success as a young attorney on the fast track to a partnership at one of the most respected law firms in New England. Then one cold night, the secrets of her past come hurtling back when she’s found stabbed to death, her frozen body discovered in the trunk of her own car, abandoned at the end of the Portland Fish Pier.
The only witness to the crime is a mentally ill young woman named Abby Quinn, who tries desperately to tell police what she has seen. Because of Abby’s illness, no one in the department believes what she says. Until she, too, disappears.
As Portland homicide detective Michael McCabe begins his investigation, he learns there may be more to Goff than meets the eye. Not only had she been having an affair with a partner at her firm, she had also been creating enemies closer to home.
Struck by a remarkable resemblance between Goff and his own ex-wife, McCabe is forced to grapple with memories of his failed marriage as he races to find Lainie’s killer—before Abby Quinn is slain.
As he did in The Cutting, James Hayman once again weaves a gripping tale of evil and deceit and creates characters so real and so human, we want to meet them again and again.
When a young woman is found frozen and stuffed in a trunk, Michael takes on this case with gusto, while trying to push back his memories of his ex-wife who the young woman resembles. A witness comes forward and Michael fears for her safety. This gripping story kept me turning the pages as fast as I could read. The interplay between his business and home life provided a balance to the search for the killer. My rating: 4.5 stars