But while it's easy to guess one aspect of the mystery, it's not so easy to guess at the deeper one which is central to this story. There are a multitude of characters which naturally gives Gardner a chance to spread red herrings galore and as a technique, it's very effective.

Each chapter begins with a small but crucial piece of information about various species of spiders and as the story develops, the reason behind the killer's obsession with them is revealed. And to further add to the general creepiness is the presence of spiders. Without revealing details, all I can say is this book depicts a classic case of how abuse generates more abuse which is at once horrific and fascinating. This book, in particular, is not for those faint of heart, filled as it is with the tortured and twisted reminisces of a ruthless, remorseless and extremely devious psychopath with a sickening proclivity and a penchant for playing terrifying mind games. She has a way of getting into the minds and motivations of her characters that's so eerie as to raise goosebumps in her readers. But I now remember why I used to like her so much. Wow! It's been a while since I last read a Lisa Gardner novel.

Whatever the reason, Kimberly is inescapably drawn into a web of deceit and unforgettable horror, even as things come to a boil in her personal life. Perhaps its her own pregnancy that causes Kimberly to take an interest in this case-which-is-not-a-case or maybe it's because her own mother and sister had died at the hands of a serial killer. Yet, something compels her to believe the young prostitute who tells her a horrific and totally un-proveable tale of a serial killer with an obsession for spiders who's targeting prostitutes, women no one cares about enough to notice their disappearance. FBI Special Agent Kimberly Quincy has more important things to worry about, many other cases to solve.

Plain Jane by Laurien Gardner