A terrifying and sadistic killer stalks the unsuspecting citizens of sweltering Atlanta, Ga., in Amanda Kyle Williams's suspenseful debut, The Stranger You Seek. Chinese-American and Southern to her core, Keye Street, a former FBI analyst and dry alcoholic, makes her living as a private detective, with a sideline in bail bond enforcement. When her close friend, homicide detective Lieutenant Aaron Rauser, asks for help to track down the vicious killer, dubbed "Wishbone" by the local press, Keye instantly feels her analytical profiling instincts take over. Along with her assistant/resident computer hacker, Neil, she works meticulously to unravel the psychology behind the killings.
As the stress and tension mount, she finds the pressure building to fall off the wagon and have a drink--just one drink. While she struggles with this urge, Wishbone strikes again and again, each murder bringing the killer not only closer to justice, but dangerously close to Keye. Williams deftly re-creates the fictional world of crime and law enforcement in Atlanta, right down to the oppressive heat of August and complete with fully formed and convincingly flawed characters. Perceptive and sharp, Keye is a complicated, engaging main character, as revealed through her episodic entanglements in amusingly odd cases and through the eyes of her colorful friends and adoptive family. With Keye's unveiling, Williams has fashioned an appealing sleuth as unlikely as Stephanie Plum, as resourceful as Precious Ramotswe, as focused as Eve Duncan--and with the tenacity to match all three. --Sarah Borders, librarian, Houston Public Library