by J. Mark Bertrand

Bethany House, $14.99, 368 pages

Houston PD Detective Roland March’s life is slowly coming apart:  his marriage is slowly unraveling; he just got a new case with lots of questions but no answers; and the case that made his career is being questioned for possible appeal. And that’s just the first day…

Pattern of Wounds is a superior mystery by writer J. Mark Bertrand. A compelling novel, the author successfully gives the reader a portrait of a man whose life is crashing around him. Unable to cope with the rising issues at work, the character is nicely shown as dealing with the problems by getting tunnel vision on the case and ignoring everything else. This is a nice change from the usual alcoholic cop storyline found in many mysteries. It’s also refreshing to see a murder mystery that doesn’t use graphic violence to create interest and intrigue – the storyline does that ably enough in this novel.  Mystery readers will enjoy delving into Roland March’s world.

Reviewed by Barbara Cothern