Review: 'Stalking Death' is a Suspenseful Delight

I was fortunate enough to buy an early release copy of STALKING DEATH (The Mystery Company 2008), part of the Thea Kozak mystery series by Kate Flora, when I attended Malice Domestic a couple of weekends ago. It's an absorbing read.

Thea Kozak is the "crisis expert" in the private school consulting firm that she and her partner operate. In this story, Shondra Jones, a black female student at St. Matthew's prep school, claims she's being harassed by a male student. When Kozak shows up to handle the situation, she's given a less-than-enthusiastic reception from the people she's trying to help. It seems the alleged stalker is the grandson of one of the school's major donors. So guess how anxious they are to punish the stalker--not very.

Before you know it, someone is murdered and Jones' brother is accused of committing the crime. But there's a whole lot more going on at St. Matt's than meets the eye. And it's up to Kozak to figure it out so she can do her job and try to protect Shondra (who has become a target, because she refuses to drop her complaints against the school). In doing so, Kozak puts herself squarely in harm's way and must keep on her toes to stay alive.

With a dry wit and fine-tuned sense of the ambiguities of dealing with people, Flora does a great job of exploring the difficulties of being a consultant--the outsider who must look behind her clients' bland representations and challenge their complacent attitudes in order to get the job done. I can't help but be reminded of when I was practicing law and had to see through what clients told me to understand their true agendas. Flora's previous career as an attorney no doubt contributes to her keen understanding of what it's like to have clients lie to you and balk at taking advice they don't want to hear.

The story is well-structured and engaging, building in suspense and tension as Shondra and Kozak face one peril after another, until it reaches a nail-biting climax.

Flora also does a great job of weaving in enough detail about previous books in the series to bring you up-to-speed about what's come before without dragging the plot down with excessive detail--giving one all the more reason to go back and read them, as well.