The Echo Man by Sam Holland

 

Jessica Ambrose wakes to a house in flames.  She manages to get her daughter and herself out, but her husband is killed.  In the hospital, she finds that the police are planning to charge her with the murder and arson as she and Patrick had been fighting that night and that her daughter will be taken away from her.  Jessica runs from the hospital and ends up at the house of Nate Griffin.  Nate is a suspended police detective.  He has also had tragedy as he and his wife awoke one night to a man with a gun.  Nate was beaten unconscious and his wife killed.  Both wounded, they try to find solace with each other.

Nate's sister, Cara, is the head of the police squad looking into the murders.  But when Griffin realizes that his and Jess's cases are part of a series mimicking famous serial killers, Cara and her team start to find more cases that fit the pattern.  Killers such as Jeffery Dahmer, Charles Manson and the Golden State Killer are providing the blueprint for a horrific series of murderers.  Can the man behind the killings be found?

This is a debut novel for the author writing as Sam Holland.  It is the first book in the Major Crimes series.  She also has a series under the name Louisa Scarr.  The crimes are very violent and gory and some readers may be put off by this, although others will take it as the major crime investigators are exposed to.  There are many twists and turns as Cata and her team race to find the killer before he strikes again, while Jessica and Griffin come together due to their shared trauma inflicted by the killer.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.