In this ninth outing, Tess Gerritsen’s much-loved series heroines, forensic anthropologist Maura Isles and detective Jane Rizzoli, are on cracking form. The duo often find themselves investigating gruesome murders – and The Silent Girl is one of the most compelling (and disturbing). Gerritsen is a leading light among the new cadre of female crime writers who are quite as ready to tackle hyper-violent crime fiction as any of their male confreres – and this is a field, remember, that boasts several stellar talents (including, notably, Kathy Reichs). But one of the most talented practitioners of this nerve-shredding genre is Gerritsen, still on a roll after such highly impressive thrillers as Body Double and Vanish. The latest book, The Silent Girl, is a particularly notable outing for Maura Isles and Jane Rizzoli.In a Chinatown alley in Boston, a severed human hand is found. On a roof in the vicinity is the decapitated head of a woman. Nearby is a body, and on the corpse are found strands of non-human hair. Involved in the investigation of the crime are Rizzoli and Isles, who quickly discover some starling facts about events that preceded the murder: nearly two decades before, a grim assault on a restaurant in Boston claimed the lives of five people, with only one survivor of the carnage -- a woman skilled in martial arts who is party to a dark secret. Rizzoli and Isles realise that there is something malign and ancient in Chinatown – and that more lives are at stake. As so often with Tess Gerritsen, this is a book that guarantees a raising of the pulse rate, and if you harbour the slightest squeamishness, perhaps you"d better pick up something less confrontational. However, the burgeoning army of Gerritsen fans will (quite rightly) have no such pussyfooting objections – and more power to their (and Gerritsen’s) elbow. --Barry Forshaw