John Doe (A Rizzoli and Isles short story) [Kindle Edition]

John Doe is an ebook short. It tells a story about how Dr. Maura Isles came to be the prime suspect in a murder investigation.

It all begins a beautiful night in Boston when Dr. Isles attends a cocktail party at the Museum of Science. She doesn't really want to be there, but since she's in the museum's committee and the event is a benefit, she has no choice.

She's bored at first but things seem to get better when she's approached by a handsome man called Eli Kilgour, who also happens to be a generous donor. Soon enough they start talking and flirting and one thing leads to another and then, nothing.

Maura wakes up the next day in her living room having a really bad headache and feeling dizzy, but unable to recall what really happened the night before. Her last memory is that of having a drink with Kilgour. How did she get home? Did they make love? And, what the hell is going on?

The last question is what this story is all about. What happened between her leaving the party and waking up this morning? Well, maybe Jane Rizzoli has the answers, as she shows up at her door just to let her know that the body of an unidentified man has been found in a park, and in whose pocket they have found one of her professional cards.

Jane will show the shocked Maura a picture of the victim who will turn out to be Eli Kilgour. He's been stabbed several times and apart from Dr. Isles no one else seems to have been in contact with him.

Did she kill him? She can't recall. Her lapses of memory can only mean one thing, that she's been drugged. But when did that happen? And why? Is someone trying to frame her for murder?

Maura trusts Jane and her partners but she can't sit still and let them do all the work, because she simply has to know the truth. As time goes by though things become more complicated. As it turns out the man was not who he was pretending to be, and her case is in some way connected with some others that took place in the past.

There's a puzzle to be solved and the pieces, sooner or later, will come one after the other together. And the end will arrive with a bang. Great plot and beautiful storytelling.

Boston, Museum of Science. A benefit evening including a cocktail party Dr Maura Isles has to attend, because she's in the museum's committee.
Bored at first and very annoyed by her pair of 2-hour-stilettos, the evening seems to meliorate when a nice looking man in tuxedo who presents himself as Eli Kilgour starts to take care of her. He also happens to be a big-time donor for the museum. They get into some kind of small talk, he's providing glasses of champagne for her and soon they decide to leave the 'party' for some dessert in a French Cafè and then - total black-out.
Maura wakes up the next day on her couch with some big hangover and a total memory void. She's absolutely unable to recall what happened the night before. She only remembers of having a glass with Kilgour, then leaving with him. She is fully dressed in her evening gown, not feeling anything bad like being raped had took place ...But what exactly happened between her leaving the party and waking up this morning?
Shortly after that Jane Rizzoli shows up at Maura's flat just to inform her that the body of a 'John Doe' has been found in a park, stabbed to dead, and with her bussiness card in his pocket.
When Maura is shown a picture of the victim she recognises Eli Kilgour.
She has not the faintest idea what could have happened. And that can only mean one thing: She was drugged!
The case becomes more complicated when the police comes to know that the man was an impostor and Maura's story seems to be very similar to some other cruel crimes against women in the past.
Piece by piece they put the puzzle together and the solution will resolve not only the mystery about the murder of John Doe - but there will be more than one big surprise for Maura and Jane.

This short story was a very satisfying read, and surely makes more appetite for the new thriller featuring our heroines which is called Last to Die.
I have read this big time crime yet, but that is an entirely different story ...

These short stories on the Kindle have been a bit of a mixture for me. Karin Slaughter's recent effort was excellent where as Tess Gerritsen's effort earlier this year was so short and silly that I didn't even bother to review it. That is not to say it was bad, it was just a bit tongue in cheek and passed 5 minutes nicely.
This effort is slightly longer at 42 pages so I was interested in how it turned out.

The actual premise of this story is really good. It could have easily been stretched out into a longer effort and to a certain extant I think Tess might have missed a trick here. Maura Isles is currently hated by the police force and so when there is the opportunity for them to treat her as a plausible suspect in a murder enquiry I thought more time should have been dedicated to this opportunity.

Having said that, the story is nice and intriguing. The usually unflappable Maura is completely out of her comfort zone, rendered out of control by the actions of a predator. Jane demonstrates her feelings for her friend, by going all out to prove her innocence.

The problem with these short stories is that due to their length, you know that any character introduced is going to be part of the resolution as there is simply not enough pages for anything else. This makes the end somewhat predictable.

That doesn't mean it is not a good story. Far from it, I really enjoyed this book and have decided to welcome these short visits to the characters between each book.

My rating: 7