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Dead Write, Sheila Lowe, Obsidian, $6.99.

Shelia Lowe's forensic handwriting mysteries are fantastically entertaining. It sounds like a gimmicky idea, but Lowe actually is a handwriting analyst, and the parts included in the story about handwriting are really interesting. In many ways, main character Claudia Rose uses her actual expertise to solve the crimes she gets drawn into. While I wouldn't describe these as truly cozy—Lowe touches on things in this novel like child abuse, suicide and gender change that aren't a bit cozy—she does use the form of a traditional mystery to tell her story, so they are categorized that way. The LA based Claudia is called to New York to consult with a very elite matchmaking service, reading the handwriting of clients.

Leaving behind her cop boyfriend, Joel Jovanic, Claudia leaves a few issues behind her: she's worried about Joel's attractive new partner, and she's the guardian of a difficult 14 year old girl (encountered in the first book) who is a source of worry. She's not comforted when the girl offers to "spy" on Joel for her, in case the attractive partner really is a problem.

The real story concerns Elite Introductions, a matchmaking service for the very wealthy run by one Baroness Grusha Olinetsky. Grusha gives Claudia a file of clients for her to look through, and as she does, she finds a series of disturbing traits in many of the men that her predecessor seems to have missed. Grusha is unwilling to hear this, though as Claudia is also referred to Grusha's consulting physician and psychologist, she begins to feel there is more to the story. When it turns out that several of Grusha's clients have recently died in various freak "accidents", she finally begins to come clean to Claudia, and reveals her fear that someone is not only killing her clients, but trying to destroy her business. Thanks to a misunderstanding with Joel, Claudia doesn't ask for his advice, and gets drawn more deeply into the case, which the police refuse to take seriously.

Lowe is really skillful as introducing many suspects, creating an interesting setting, and using her handwriting expertise to tie the whole thing together. Not only did I not figure out "whodunnit", the wind-up was well constructed from an emotional standpoint. All in all, a very delightful series.

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