NCIS New Orleans: Crossroads
Author: Jeff Mariotte
ISBN: 9781783296347
BIC Code: FF
Specs: 175 x 106 mm
Pages: 320
Reviewed By: Sandra Scholes
NCIS New Orleans is a big deal it seems; its the newest spin-off series from one of the most watched shows on US and UK TV on Channel 5. where its viewers top 800k per episode. It was also nominated for the 2015 People's Choice Award for Favourite New TV Drama and Favourite Actor in a New TV Series category.
Previous novels in the series are NCIS Los Angeles: Extremis and NCIS Los Angeles: Bolthole where they deal with the murders of everyday people which lead them to draw similar conclusions as they are both connected to the US Navy. In NCIS New Orleans: Crossroads, Pride and his team have to investigate a Naval Oceanographer's fall from a hotel balcony. This series reminds me of the CSI series in that the team deals with the evidence before them and what eventually links it to the killer.
With only one witness to the crime and the fact she saw practically nothing much happen means Pride and his team have more to do than first thought. Leads only come from the owner of the hotel near where the incident took place and two security officers sent to look after the place. What sets Pride questioning the situation is when he discovers a man had got a room in the hotel for a very short time under an assumed name and the room he stayed in was littered with voodoo paraphernalia. Pride believes whoever this man is, he could be a very unhinged individual.
Mariotte steadily puts in several clues drip feeding them along the course of the story making it harder to think who the main suspect could be. I liked the suspense it had from the start but also his mastery of the characters as they played out in the novel. Pride comes across as a smooth operator with those he sees as friends, but has a keen sense of justice being done right so also possesses the sort of qualities expected of a crime scene investigator. I found this novel to be a gripping accompaniment to the series.
