The Devil's Closet

I really enjoyed this book, although its subject matter sent a lot of uncomfortable chills down my spine. In The Devil's Closet, Detective CeeCee Gallagher is involved in the search for a kidnapper and murderer. The victims are young girls between the ages of 6 and 8, and none of them are found alive. CeeCee finds herself butting heads with the FBI, dealing with marital problems and up against a ticking clock.

I have always been bothered by the violence adults inflict upon children, especially when it comes to sexual violence. This is a novel about sexual violence against children in it, and if you are the type of person who turns green at thought of it, you might not want to read this book. There is no graphic violence, it is all hinted at in discussions between the characters, but the reader knows what is happening to the victims without needing to actually be given a blow by blow report. CeeCee Gallagher is police officer and mother of two young daughters, and her anger towards the murderer I felt was very justified. In my job, working for the legal system, I hear a lot of things I wish I didn't and I am always outraged when I hear about a sex crime committed on a child, so I appreciated CeeCee's anger.

This book is the first in the CeeCee Gallagher series and I am looking forward to reading more of them. There is a lot of tension in this book and CeeCee has to deal with an overloaded plate of issues, but her main focus is always on the case and finding each missing girl. There are times when her bullheadedness results in a later realization that she misjudged something or someone and she does admit when she was wrong.

I always enjoy reading the Author's Note at the end of books, as it leaves me with a bit of insight into what drove the author to write a particular story. Stacy Dittrich includes an Author's Note at the end of this book, explaining that this story was inspired by a criminal investigation she was involved in, about a child rapist/murderer who she nicknamed The Doll Man. Reading her “note” made me a little more uncomfortable with the story, but it also made me appreciate this novel all that much more. I know there are men (and women) out there like The Doll Man, they walk among us and the majority of us have no idea, but I still find it upsetting and disturbing that there are people out there who wish to do harm to young children.

This book was offered as a free e-book from Barnes & Noble and that's how I received it. I have since added the CeeCee Gallagher series to my “wishlist” as I do want to continue to read about the adventures of CeeCee. Stacy Dittrich has a new fan. I'd recommend this book to fans of Tess Gerritsen and Patricia Cornwell.