“So, it is going to be more romance? Or more suspense? Both…neither?” When reading The Inquisitor, I could almost imagine the author having this internal dialogue and I can’t help but think that this plotting dilemma never resolved itself in her mind. The book that results from all this is one that is not horrible, but one that simply fails to fully develop either its suspense or its romance plot.

As Christmas approaches, a serial killer terrorizes Birmingham, Alabama. The police have no idea who is behind the brutal killings of women in the city, knowing only that he is organized and misses no detail in plotting his perfect crimes. Psychologist Jenna Kincaid has managed to stay outside of the developing crisis until one day she finds herself taken by surprise with questions about the killer during a routine television interview.

From that point on Jenna’s orderly world is turned upside down. Her interview attracts the notice of a killer – and that of former Army Ranger Sean Murphy. Sean lost his sister to the murderer and he believes that Jenna may be his key to bring the killer to justice. Jenna is unsure whether to trust Sean or to fear him, but as it becomes more apparent to her that someone seems to be watching her every move, Jenna is left with little choice.

Sean feels a strong desire to protect Jenna, and this protectiveness combines with an ever escalating desire. However, Sean also sees Jenna as a tool to bring down a killer and this causes a conflict. He is torn between a desire to protect and yet if he is to accomplish his mission, he cannnot simply whisk Jenna away from all danger.

The intial setup of the novel flows is decent enough. It’s not amazingly good, but it works well enough. The second half of the book is where things start to dip a bit lower than average. As the suspense starts to heat up, there comes a point at which the author seemed to realize that she was dangerously far along with the suspense plot and hadn’t hit readers with much romance yet. The romantic subplot weaves in and out of the ever-increasing suspense with rather awkward timing, making the story feel rather odd. After all, how many people are looking for a soulmate while running from the crazed serial murderer terrorizing their hometown?

Without giving too much away, it’s fair to comment that this author seems to have trouble balancing the development of her suspense plot with the romance between the leads and, as a result, neither plot is sufficiently fleshed out and the book just never comes to life. The romance doesn’t feel real, and the serial killer plot is just never all that creepy. The author’s writing style is decent enough, but with the rough plotting, the total effect is simply one of a slightly less than average serial killer book. For that, I simply cannot recommend spending money on it.