The Midnight Lock – Jeffery Deaver

When Lincoln Rhyme seemingly is tripped up by a defense attorney, letting a criminal go free, the mayor declares that civilian consultants are no longer able to work with the NYPD.  In the middle of two other cases, Rhyme, with help from Amelia Sachs and the rest of his team, keeps helping to track down a creepy peeping tom, who, calling himself “The Locksmith”, breaks into women’s apartments and watches them sleep, while trying to avoid detection.  Working with the security chief of a media company targeted by The Locksmith, Lincoln and Amelia try to unravel the mystery and bring The Locksmith, and whoever is behind him, to justice.

The Midnight Lock, the fifteenth and most recent entry in the Lincoln Rhyme series by Jeffery Deaver, is the thirteenth in the series that I’ve read.  Separating Rhyme from the NYPD, if ever so briefly, added an interesting wrinkle to tale, though one that could have been better taken advantage of.  With only two books in the series, which I started in 2000, left to go, I hope I am able to wrap it up sometime this year.