The Sinner by Tess Gerritsen - A Book Review

The Sinner is the third book in the Rizzoli and Isles series by Tess Gerritsen.  As you know from previous posts, I love the Rizzoli and Isles television series.  This series is based off of Tess Gerritsen's books.  This is the main reason I am reading her novels.

This story had a multifaceted plot which began with a murder in the Our Lady of Divine Light chapel at the Graystones Abby in the west Boston suburb of Jamaica Plain.  With the white of winter covering the ground, one nun lies on the cold stone floor of the chapel, bludgeoned to dead.  Another is loaded into an ambulance in critical condition. The story builds from there when another body is found in an abandoned restaurant, a bullet through her skull, her hands and feet both missing.  It's not until Gabriel Dean arrives from the FBI with another body, a male found in the truck of a car with a fatal bullet wound to the head, that they begin to assemble the case. 

While Rizzoli and Isles rush to solve the crimes at hand, Maura's ex-husband Victor returns, asking for a second chance.  With the romantic Christmas season rising to its peak all around her, Maura struggles with old memories and emotions she thought she had severed long ago.  Meanwhile, Jane's affair (in the previous novel The Apprentice) with Gabriel Dean has left behind a dilemma as she discovers that she is carrying his child. 

This novel had me sitting on the edge of my seat at times, wondering how the murders were connected and what choices Rizzoli and Isles would make regarding their personal lives.  After rekindling their relationship, will Maura take Victor back?  When Gabriel shows up in the middle of their investigation, again, will Jane garner enough nerve to be honest with him?  Though the television series does not necessarily follow the books, I found The Sinner to be an excellent read that kept me entertained from the first page to the last. 

If you are a fan of Rizzoli and Isles, I recommend you read the book series.  There is a lot more to Jane and Maura than the television series can impart.