The Keepsake: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Tess Gerritsen’s?The Silent Girl.

New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen knows how to expertly dissect a brilliantly suspenseful story, all the while keeping fascinated readers riveted to her side. By turns darkly enthralling and relentlessly surprising, The Keepsake showcases an author at the peak of her storytelling powers.

For untold years, the perfectly preserved mummy had lain forgotten in the dusty basement of Boston?s Crispin Museum. Now its sudden rediscovery by museum staff is both a major coup and an attention-grabbing mystery. Dubbed ?Madam X,? the mummy?to all appearances, an ancient Egyptian artifact? seems a ghoulish godsend for the financially struggling institution. But medical examiner Maura Isles soon discovers a macabre message hidden within the corpse?horrifying proof that this ?centuries-old? relic is instead a modern-day murder victim.

To Maura and Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli, the forensic evidence is unmistakable, its implications terrifying. And when the grisly remains of yet another woman are found in the hidden recesses of the museum, it becomes chillingly clear that a maniac is at large?and is now taunting them. Archaeologist Josephine Pulcillo?s blood runs cold when the killer?s cryptic missives are discovered, and her darkest dread becomes real when the carefully preserved corpse of yet a third victim is left in her car like a gruesome offering?or perhaps a ghastly promise of what?s to come.

The twisted killer?s familiarity with post-mortem rituals suggests to Maura and Jane that he may have scientific expertise in common with Josephine. Only Josephine knows that her stalker shares a knowledge even more personally terrifying: details of a dark secret she had thought forever buried.

Now Maura must summon her own dusty knowledge of ancient death traditions to unravel his twisted endgame. And when Josephine vanishes, Maura and Jane have precious little time to derail the Archaeology Killer before he adds another chilling piece to his monstrous collection.

From Publishers Weekly Bestseller Gerritsen’s at times lackluster series heroines prove they can shine in her solid seventh thriller to feature Det. Jane Rizzoli and Dr. Maura Isles (after The Mephisto Club). When medical examiner Isles studies an X-ray scan of Madame X, which everyone assumes is a newly discovered Egyptian mummy, at Boston’s Crispin Museum, she realizes the mummy isn’t a priceless artifact but a recent murder victim, gruesomely preserved. Rizzoli focuses the police investigation on Dr. Josephine Pulcillo, a young archeologist recently hired by the museum who may have something to hide. More victims soon turn up, including a tsantsa (shrunken head) in a hidden museum chamber and a corpse resembling a well-preserved bog body in Pulcillo’s car. After Pulcillo disappears, Rizzoli and Isles must scramble to find her before she becomes another trophy in the killer’s growing collection. As usual, Gerritsen delivers an intricate plot that will keep readers guessing. (Sept.) Copyright ? Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review Praise for The Bone Garden

?A suspense thriller likely to keep you reading into the wee hours . . . richly plotted, with superbly developed characters.? ?The Philadelphia Inquirer

?Riveting . . . one of Gerritsen?s best.? ?The Globe and Mail

?Pitch-perfect . . . highly engrossing.? ?USA Today

?Fascinating . . . Gerritsen, as always, puts her medical training to ghoulish use.? ?The Boston Globe

From the Hardcover edition.