Starred review from April 22, 2019
The tension ratchets up early in Lister’s superb 19th John Jordan mystery (after 2018’s Blood Trail) when Chip Jeffers, a Potter County, Fla., deputy, asks John, an investigator for the Gulf County Sheriff’s Department, for help in averting a shooting at Potter High School, John’s alma mater. Two of John’s high school classmates, Kim Miller and LeAnn Dunne, who currently work there, fear a massacre is being planned after a janitor found a piece of paper in a trash can with apparent references to continuing the revolution that the Columbine shooters began. Agreeing that the note is not a joke, the four of them rack their brains to work out the best way of identifying its author and thwarting the murderous plans. A student play depicting such a shooting is slated to be performed at the school, leading John to believe that the actual attack will be timed to coincide with the performance—and to debate over whether to let the show go on. Tragedy ensues. Lister adroitly combines suspense and fair play in one of the series’ best entries. Agent: Amy Moore-Benson, AMB Literary Management.