Tallyman

by D.P. Lyle

When Sonny Coleman is gunned down while on a late-night run near the community college where he teaches, his mother Erin Coleman, the US Ambassador to NATO, wishes to avoid his death becoming an international media circus. To this end, she hires Bobby Cain and Harper McCoy to discretely investigate her only son’s death. Shortly after their arrival in the rural Tennessee town, the body of a young woman is found and it appears she is the latest target of a killer known as The Tallyman, due to his tauntingly carving the victim number into the flesh of each corpse. But the killer, after tallying four murders, fell silent for several years. Why has he resurfaced now and why is the latest victim marked with a seven? Are there two missing bodies? Is his reappearance connected to the seemingly random murder of Sonny Coleman? The suspect list is tenuous at best and Cain and Harper must sort through past and present crimes, as well as Sonny’s life, to uncover a ruthless and truly sociopathic killer.

“A fast-paced atmospheric thriller with endearing characters that stay with you long after you finish. A series that keeps getting better and better. Fans of Orphan X will love it.”
—David Putnam Author of the Bestselling Bruno Johnson Series

310 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 16, 2022

About the author

DP Lyle, MD is the Macavity and Benjamin Franklin Silver Award winning and Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, Scribe, Silver Falchion, and USA Best Book Award nominated author of many non-fiction books as well as numerous works of fiction.

He has worked with many novelists and with the writers of popular television shows such as Law & Order, CSI: Miami, Diagnosis Murder, Monk, House, Medium, and Pretty Little Liars and others

For the past 35 years, he has practiced Cardiology in Orange County, California. He is the co-host, along with Jan Burke, of Crime and Science Radio, a twice-monthly program on Suspense Radio.

Reviews

[Jeff Benham · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great series this has been so far! It can be read as a standalone if you haven't read the first two yet. When a college professor is murdered, his mother, who is a US ambassador, wants the situation to be resolved. Who better to do the resolving than Cain&Harper? Dear mom has made it plain what she wants the outcome to be. In the little town of Laurel, they get tentative support from the police. They have their own problem. A serial killer, who everyone thought had moved or died, has returned. Maybe the two are connected, maybe not. Plenty of action with a good blend of humor.

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clearly this third installment of this series stands alone, but it will definitely prompt you to go back and read the earlier installments. The character background make the story. I look forward to more in this series and by this author.
4.5 Stars