Cut, Paste, Kill by Marshall Karp

Published by Minotaur Books

ISBN 978-0-312-37822-6

I originally chose this novel because of the scrapbooking reference in the synopsis on the book jacket, but once I began reading the book itself, it was evident that this was not a nice little book about crafting.  Far from it.

This murder mystery is the fourth in the series whose main characters are Lomax & Biggs, two police detectives on the Hollywood beat.  The story opens with a game of 'choose the victim', played by two cats chasing their numbered ping pong balls, and the winning number is...

There is a serial killer on the loose and the victims are being chosen at random by two cats.  The victims come from wide and varied backgrounds with no apparent connection, but all are killed in the same manner.  Lomax & Biggs are kept busy trying to solve these crimes, and more than one red herring is thrown into their path in order to shield the real killer.  There are many twists and turns throughout the story leading up to a thrilling finale.

An excellent book and I look forward to the next adventure featuring Lomax & Biggs.