Die trying

Tess Gerritsen, a physician, has written a long string of well written and entertaining novels about the exploits of Boston Homicide Detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner, Dr. Maura Isles.

In "Die Again," a group of tourists on safari in Botswana come upon one calamity after another. Their bush guide warns the group not to stray from their camp at night.
His warning doesn't work for their tracker whose screams awaken the group. They rush to where the sounds were coming from and find his dead, maimed body.
Then, their vehicle breaks down and another member of the group is killed by animals.

In Boston, six years later, Rizzoli and Isles are ordered to the scene of a sinister murder. They find a noted taxidermist who was killed and his body left as if a leopard had killed him and left the body hanging for a later feast. The many animals that the taxidermist had on display in his home added to the macabre image of those who entered his home.

Something in the victim's home leads investigators to another body. Rizzoli and Isles continue to look for connections between the victims and Dr. Isles finds records of murders around the country where the victims were left in the same manner as the taxidermist.

More is learned about the safari party. There was only one survivor, a woman who followed a river and a herd of elephants until she came to a civilized location.

This is a novel that is best to read slowly and savor the puzzle that the author has provided. How she links the murders of members of the safari to the victims in Boston was cleverly conceived.

There is a surprising plot development and the suspenseful story line is well paced. It displays the author's literary talents and story telling ability.