A FAINT COLD FEAR is the third book in a series by Karin Slaughter. I, however, read it out of order. And I enjoyed it. That is one of my tests of whether an author is a good writer: can their books in a series also be read and enjoyed as standalones? Slaughter passes my test.

Because I had read the first book in this series, I was already familiar with the main characters: the chief of police in a small town in Georgia; his ex-wife, a doctor; and his former employee who is now in Security for the college in this town. Put simply, college Security, headed by a creepy man, and his new employee, Lena, the former police detective, have called the police to come to the scene of a crime at the college. Someone has either committed suicide or was murdered. Soon other murders occur as well, and the police race to solve these and prevent more.

Jeffrey, the Chief of Police, suspects that Lena knows more than she is saying. Unfortunately, Lena has anger issues and is not forthcoming when police question her. Sara, Jeffrey‘s ex-wife and the medical examiner in town, sometimes acts as a buffer between them. She is seeing Jeffrey again but is not ready to remarry him.

Of course, there are many side stories involving others in town. These add mysteries to the main story.

Although I enjoyed this book as a whole, I did not enjoy Lena‘s anger issues and misbehavior. I hope these do not continue to be a problem later in the series.