The Death Box by J.A. Kerley

Detective Carson Ryder is at the top of his profession, a detective whose specialty is the detection and capture of serial killers.  When he decides to leave his home in Mobile, Alabama, he is quickly offered a job in Miami.  He barely gets into town when his services are needed as a horrific discovery has been made.  An old cistern on deserted land has been found.  In it is a solid column of concrete.  Concrete mixed with bodies, their final resting place a frieze of torture and death.

Ryder starts the investigation.  His new teammates want nothing to do with him, as they are less than impressed with this new guy in town.  Ryder teams up with a new junior detective, Ziggy Gershwin.  As the bodies are chipped from the concrete column, it appears that they are all Latin Americans.  Is this gang warfare? 

As the investigation continues, Ryder and Gershwin discover that this is not gang warfare.  Instead it is human trafficking, and the women brought here are then forced into prostitution.  They are horrified to discover the extent of this sordid practice, and determined to break up the ring and solve the murders.  Their only chance is a woman who has managed to run away from the traffickers, Leala.  But Leala has been trained to be as frightened of the police as the men who stole her and it is difficult to persuade her that the police are there to help.  Even worse, there is a price on her head and every lowlife in the city is scouring the streets to find her.  Can Carson and Ziggy find her first?

This is the tenth novel in the Carson Ryder series.  Fans of the series will welcome another Ryder adventure with a new locale and supporting characters.  Those who are new to the series will be able to quickly pick up the pace and become fans.  The action is fast paced and the reader finds themselves quickly turning the pages to see how everything turns out.  This box is recommended for mystery lovers.