Twisted (2004)

Hardly a fan of long-winded titles, Jonathan Kellerman has no choice but to deliver an elaborate, tangled web of a whodunit with unsuspected turns at every chapter break. Luckily, he does. Twisted addictive tale about an investigation into an unsolved series of all-too-similar head bashings is as intricately detailed as it is tantalizingly page-turning. It's just a shame, really, that you are forced to take this creepy, delicious journey alongside the grating, personality-free lead investigator, Det. Petra Connor (introduced in 2003's A Cold Heart). Between her incessant need for emotional stroking and her Über-exaggerated ''I'm a cop, therefore worship me'' ego trips, Connor is about as believable as the Tooth Fairy and as appealing as a root canal sans Novocain.