I needed a title that began with 'X' (yes, and isn't it an excellent way to find a new author, not that Deaver is at all new but I hadn't come across him before and, as I'm only occasionally reading books in this genre and have never frequented the shelves thinking "I must read something in the crime/detective/etc department", the chances of picking up one of his books by chance were minimal).

I find it interesting that the cover image has a girl with red lipstick, her hair flung up and wearing a dress with pencil-thin straps and showing some bony chest. Deaver was at pains to tell us that Kayleigh (said girl) wore makeup that 'was subtle and leaned toward pinks', had publicity shots of her hair that 'flowed in the fake gentle breeze', and wore 'blouses [whose] necklines were high'. We all know you can't judge a book by its cover, but the publishers could get the cover a bit closer to the story! And if I was idly browsing then I'd have looked at this cover and moved on.

Anyway, that's by the by.

If you're a Deaver fan you don't need me to tell you about this book. If, like me, you've never heard of him, read on. This detective novel is set in one of the very hot states of the U.S. - that's evoked well. It's got a heroine (Kathryn Dance) who is a kinesics specialist (reading body language and verbal signals) who is an interesting character and with just enough personal back-story to get the reader wanting to know more about her. It's got a good supporting cast, and a well-developed 'victim'. The social setting is the country music scene, which seemed to me (uninitiated to that world) to be thorough. There are plenty of twists - doubts cast, red herrings.... And there's very little swearing. Deaver falls into the occasional one or two paragraph lecture to the reader, and I think he could surely find a better way to impart that information, but apart from that the book was fun and had a great pace.