Chosen Prey by John Sandford

 

Lucas Davenport is bored.  There haven't been many murders in Minnesota lately.  But be careful what you wish for.  Lucas decides to look into the most recent murder he finds, a case of a young woman who is strangled.  As he investigates he meets another lawman from a neighboring town.  Marshall is obsessed with one case; it is the case of his niece who was killed the same way.  The two men decide to work together and putting the two cases side by side leads to the discovery of a killer's graveyard.  There are many women buried there and each bears the same marks of a killer's chosen method of death.

James Qutar is an art professor.  While he has managed to stay away from his students, he preys upon other women.  His relationships with women start out normally but as they progress, he starts to torment the woman.  He draws erotic images of her and if they break up, he finds a way to distribute the pictures to cause her embarrassment.  If the relationship progresses, he starts to introduce pain into the sexual relationship.  If the woman isn't smart enough to get out at that point, he kills her.

Lucas, Marshall and Davenport's team gets closer and closer to Qutar.  Along with the case, the reader learns about Davenport's personal life.  A woman he was close with, Weather, has come back into his life and he is contemplating marriage and children with her.  This is the 12th book in the Lucas Davenport series and it is one of the better ones.  This book is recommended for readers of police procedurals.