Bloody Valentine — Joss Cordero

The third in a fast-paced, four-part, serialized psychological thriller -- from a talented author who captures quirky South Florida life in the bestselling tradition of Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiassen.

Zach often hears his great aunt Emmy's hauntingly sweet voice singing in his head, calling him to make the dead look beautiful. The spirits of the dead need his help as they transition to the netherworld. No one but Emmy has ever really understood him and his role as the good angel of death. She trained him well. His rituals have become more artful, more elaborate. And his mission has now expanded to seek out new souls to help dispatch lovingly from this earth. His special kindness extends to all those who cross his path, be it a young woman on her way home after a night out on Clematis, or a beautiful shopper with an alluring tattoo. Who will be next?

With its taut pacing and sly humor, Cordero's West Palm serialization is relentlessly addictive, peopled with a South Florida psychopath, a burnt out police detective turned P.I., and one gorgeous but tough woman, in a city where trash mingles with class.