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Former sheriff’s detective Michael Crawford suffers from night terrors and sees glimpses of the future in his dreams. Michelle has “intuitions”. Together they form the most unusual partnership as man and wife and co-owners of the Crawford Detective Agency.
Consumed with fighting terrorism, the FBI hires the Crawford’s to assist them in tracking down a serial killer who has made his way to Colorado Springs. He leaves his calling card, an unfinished equation, scratched into his victim’s bodies. The press give him the name, “The Mathematician.”
While the small agency is working its cases, Michael tries to find out what happened to his birth parents who gave him up for adoption when he was two. His obsession leads him down a dangerous and potentially deadly path.
When the Mathematician sets his sights on Michele, the Crawford’s play a dangerous cat and mouse game with a killer that has left behind a trail of victims in four states over two decades.
I found The Spider Web Charmer to be a gripping read. There is suspense woven through several story lines, which kept my interest peaked and created tension as to how the story might unfold. The author very cleverly developed the characters of detective Michael Crawford and his wife, Michelle, to the point where I felt like I knew them and liked them, which led to a heightened level of suspense (as I feared for what was in store for them). The character development of the killer, The Mathematician, was also intriguing, and layering in a mental health disorder (OCD) was a compelling and curious twist. I would highly recommend this book to other readers who are looking for an engaging detective/thriller story that does not disappoint. I hope that the author is in process of expanding this platform, and writing the next book in a Spider Web Charmer series! ~ N.A. Herman