Friday Fiction: The Cold Room by J.T. Ellison (March 2010)

Fourth Book Featuring Taylor Jackson
Review by Kim Cantrell

Where have I been? 

Although author J.T. Ellison has been a guest contributor at Gregg Olsen‘s CrimeRant blog (which I read frequently), somehow I missed her work until the release of her fourth book:  The Cold Room.

What initially caught my attention is the setting:  Nashville, Tennessee.  And being that I’m just south of the Country Music Capital of the World and visit frequently, I thought it would be a nice change of pace to read about places I can truly envision.

And the glowing reviews at Amazon helped too.

That’s when I discovered Taylor Jackson, a recently demoted Metro Nashville homicide detective.

In The Cold Room, Taylor is drawn into the case of a serial killer; a necrosadist who can’t “love” the women he takes until they are dead.

As Taylor struggles with the serious case at hand, she must also deal with an established unsolved case that continues to haunt her; one involving a man dubbed The Predator.

Not to mention that she is engaged to Baldwin, a G-man with the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), who too becomes involved the case.

As Taylor and Baldwin search for a killer that the press is calling The Conductor, they discover other cases with similar M.O.s; both stateside and abroad.

Are they dealing with a transcontinental serial killer?  It would appear so.

The twists and turns taken in The Cold Room are enough to keep readers thoroughly engaged, sitting on edge until the very end.

My only complaint is, being the fourth book in series, references were made to past “cases” which I didn’t fully understand.  So I do recommend starting with the first book in the series.

J.T. Ellison is a superb mystery fiction writer with a twisted mind. 

A twisted mind that created an awesome page-turning book!

Visit www.jtellison.com for more information about the author and the books.