Delivering Death: A Novel (Riley Spartz)
Who but investigative TV reporter Riley Spartz would receive an anonymously sent package containing 27 human teeth? When the teeth turn out to be those of a dead ex-con who turned government informant in a complex and lucrative identity-fraud scheme, Riley senses a potential ratings coup for her Minneapolis station. A link to wealthy Jack Clemens, newly imprisoned for white-collar crime, makes the story even bigger. Meanwhile, Riley, pining for her ex-fiancé, Nick Garnett, is relieved not to be working on Channel 3’s exclusive coverage of a mass wedding at the Mall of America that will be filmed for a movie. Instead, while covering an auction of Clemens’ personal items, she ends up the owner of a literally fishy painting in an interrupted bidding war. While the previous entry in this series (Shunning Sarah, 2012) seemed to lack spark, Kramer is back in stride here: Riley, intrepid as ever, shows her humanity as the various plot threads are woven together with a highly satisfying epilogue. This sixth Riley Spartz outing features the fast-paced action laced with humor that originally marked this as a winning series. --Michele Leber