Eye of the Beholder by David Ellis

Eye of the Beholder is a gruesome but thrilling murder mystery that tracks two sets of murder sprees in a small college town fifteen years apart.  In 1989 the bodies of six young women are found in the basement of the college’s auditorium… two are wealthy coeds and four are prostitutes.  The victims are gruesomely murdered in accordance with the lyrics of a song by a relatively unknown heavy metal band.  A professor at the college uses these lyrics in his literature class that both student victims have attended.  Terry Burgos is a maintenance worker at the college and also a part time employee of the professor.  Forensic evidence of the murders is found in Burgos’ home and he is arrested and confesses to the crimes.  Paul Riley is the fresh faced prosecutor who wins the guilty verdict against Burgos on five of the six murders.  Burgos is ultimately executed.  The sixth victim is wealthy businessman Harland Bentley’s daughter and for personal reasons, he requests his daughter’s murder not be included in the indictment of Burgos.  Riley honors that request. 

Now fifteen years later, Paul Riley has moved on to private practice.  His main client and core of his private law practice is Harland Bentley.  A young female reporter begins asking questions about the Burgos trial, calling it background information for a current story.  Suddenly, one of her sources is murdered, then the reporter herself is violently murdered.  Riley recognizes the murderer's methods as those described in verse two of the heavy metal song used in the slaughter the victims from fifteen years earlier.  Riley is invited to assist the police in the investigation of the current day murders but when they learn Harland Bentley is his client, Riley’s credibility suffers.  The police suspect he is withholding information to protect his client or even himself.  Riley harbors some suspicions of his own about his client and decides he must investigate further into the events of the 1989 murders to find the present day killer.  Meanwhile, Riley and his girl friend become targets of the killer.

David Ellis writes an intriguing ‘who done it’ with an interesting cast of characters… lawyer with a conscience, philandering rich guy, wild child teenager, schizophrenic serial killer, troubled police detective, predatory college prof, sexy girlfriend who happens to be the governor’s daughter.  The plot is fraught with complexity and enough twists and turns that the ride becomes more enjoyable than the destination.  All in all, much more enjoyable than those airplane books he writes with James Patterson.