Love Deaver. XO is a Kathryn Dance novel, with a guest appearance by Lincoln and Amelia. Young country singer/superstar Kayleigh Towne has a stalker. Many celebrities have stalkers, but this guy goes beyond the boundaries of most stalkers. Kathryn Dance is a friend of Kayleigh’s and visits her in Fresno, only to find herself drawn into a murder case when one of Kayleigh’s crew is murdered. Everyone believes the perp is the stalker, but is it? Deaver is the master of sleight-of-hand in mysteries. This novel shows that he is also a songwriter. There are numerous songs throughout the book and I think I saw that one can go online and hear the songs. I noticed that Deaver lists “folksinger” on his jacket resume; it’s always good to have a backup career these days. It was easy to imagine Taylor Swift as Kayleigh. There was even mention of a Kanye moment for the character of Kayleigh. Deaver uses names of real musical artists, not as characters, but as background reference. Kayleigh’s father is a former famous country singer who has lost his voice and his star is fading. He uses Kayleigh to hang onto the world he knows. I like the character of Dance. She is not tstl or overly emotional as are many female characters in thrillers. Dance is an adult woman capable of making intelligent decisions and she knows how to do her job. She also doesn’t go screaming off the rails and off on her own, against the orders of her superiors, as do many tstl characters. Dance operates within the boundaries of her job, as do most of us. The bad thing about finishing the latest Deaver is that I have to wait for the next book to come out!