Review: The 4th Man by Lisa Gardner

The 4th Man (Quincy & Rainie #6.5) by Lisa Gardner
Publisher: Dutton
Publication date: January 3rd 2017
My rating: 3.5 stars 
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 FBI Profiler Pierce Quincy and Officer Rainie Conner return in a baffling cold case in this exclusive eBook short story by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner.

A young woman is found strangled in the stairwell of a college library, only her sneakers missing. With no physical evidence, no signs of sexual assault, and no witnesses, all the police have to go on are the three men who were in the library with her: her boyfriend and two campus security guards . . . all of whom have secrets, none of whom can be proven guilty.

Five years later, ex-FBI profiler Pierce Quincy and his wife, former police officer Rainie Conner, agree to consult on the still-unsolved case, delving into deep background to comb for any clue that will lead to the woman's murderer. But with no leads and the case colder than the body, will they be able to build a case against one of the three suspects, or is there a fourth man out there? And if the killer has eluded the police this long, how far will he go to ensure justice is never served?

With Gardner's singular ability to delve into the minds of criminals and law enforcement alike, The 4th Man is a shocking look at the reasons for taking a life . . . and just how far profilers need to go to learn them.

It also includes an early look at Gardner's next chilling thriller, Right Behind You, coming February 7, 2017.

My Thoughts:

The 4^th Man was based on a true story/murder, which definitely underscores the idea that “truth is stranger than fiction”.  The reasons a person will murder are quite baffling sometimes! 

Detective D.D. Warren has been working on cold case murders and this one committed ten years earlier stumped the investigators.  A college student was strangled, and her body left in the stairwell of the campus library.  No physical evidence was left on the scene and there were no eyewitnesses to the crime.  But D.D. is a persistent woman, and she’s uncovered a lie told by each of the three persons of interest involved.  She doesn’t want to miss any opportunity to catch the killer so she calls in profiler experts Quincy and Rainie to question these three men.  What follows is an interesting discovery of what actually happened that night. 

I’m a huge fan of Lisa Gardner’s mysteries, I’ve been reading her stories for years, but the first book I read of hers was a Quincy and Rainie book: The Third Victim, the first book they were put together, and I was hooked!  Ms. Gardner has been writing mysteries featuring other detectives/FBI agents since then so it’s be quite a while since I’ve “seen” Quincy and Rainie.  I’ve always wanted to catch up with them again, and with this short story I got a little to whet my appetite before their full-length return in, Right Behind You.  As usual their clever deductions impress!

Even though The 4^th Man is part of a larger series, it isn’t necessary to read the other books in the series to enjoy.  This is mainly a crime procedural/mystery without much personal from Quincy, Rainie or D.D. Warren. And its very short; probably took me an hour to read the whole story.

There’s a teaser at the end for Right Behind You, and after reading I can’t wait to pick it up!  As a side note, I noticed Luke Daniels is the narrator for the audio version of The 4^th Man.  He’s one of my all-time favorite narrators so I’m sure that would be an excellent way to “read” this story!

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