Just out today… a good choice to read by the fire on a snowy night.

The Hunt is the third book in Dunnett’s Erica Sands mystery series. While I have not read the first two, I was totally engaged and never felt at a loss.

In a nutshell, DCI Sands is the daughter of infamous serial killer, Charles Sterling. He is on the loose after escaping from a maximum security prison. The trail has gone cold and authorities have all but abandoned their search for him. Despite the lack of interest, Erica is determined to find him.

While she is trying to piece together where he went after the escape, she is notified that he died in a Vietnamese clinic. He left her a generous portion of his ill-gotten fortune. Unfortunately, she is the only one who believes he is still alive.

In the meantime, newspapers from several countries are working together to uncover a massive network of financial fraud. The Paris newspaper, Le Monde, is part of the investigation. Concerned the lead journalist may be in danger, the editor sends him to a coastal village in France to work on the story.

The tension picks up when he befriends a retired American diplomat living in the village. You have to suspend belief for part of what transpires but it’s what makes the story a good read. The settings are rich as the investigation goes all over the world—Paris, Brazil, Vietnam, Brittany. And for the most part, the characters are believable.

Left as a cliffhanger, I’m looking forward to the next book.