Tess Gerritsen: Rizzoli & Isles

A Modern Classic Detective Duo

As Rizzoli and Isles begins its exciting third sesason on TNT, we thought we should point you in the direction of the classic thrillers by Tess Gerritsen that lie behind the series. Gerritsen started off writing romance novels for Harlequin while aspiring to pen her own mystery and suspense novels in the mold of the fictional childhood heroine, Nancy Drew. However, her writing was a sideline to her principal vocation as a physician. That all changed after a fortuitous conversation with a retired homicide cop, and her decision to combine her medical expertise with her passion for writing resulted in ?Harvest,? a medical conspiracy thriller about the harvesting of human organs to order. Her medical expertise and perfect pacing made it her first New York Times bestseller.

She followed up this initial success with three more bestselling medical thrillers before she wrote ?The Surgeon," about a serial killer with precise medical methods who is pursued by Detective Thomas Moore and his partner in the Boston Homicide Unit, Jane Rizzoli. Moore was destined to be a one-off, but Rizzoli returned in ?The Apprentice," this time as the central character and now coupled with medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles. In bringing these two characters together, Gerritsen created a classic modern detective duo.

?The Sinner" is the novel where Gerritsen first creates the dynamic between Rizzoli and Isles that we have come to know and love. The story involves the two detectives being called in to a murder at a nunnery which ? after much investigative medical analysis and a second victim ? turns out not to be as straightforward as it might first appear. Her writing throughout the series (now up to number nine with a tenth in the offing) is sharp and the medical detail is precise, providing a textured backdrop for her finely paced and brilliantly taut thrillers that draw you in and do not let go of you until the last page is turned. So check out the show, which is great ? but be sure to check out the books as well. You will not be disappointed!

Read more by Paul Ryall