I was impressed by Marta Stephens’ first novel Silenced Cry, and was looking forward to her next book. I was not disappointed, finding The Devil Can Wait even more enjoyable. Again, as with her first book, I was drawn in by the realistic character interplay, especially the portrayal of the often frustrating work of a homicide detective.

The book begins in the middle of a messy crime spree, with the discovery of the latest teenage body in a string of possibly related murders. Short-handed and overworked, Sam Harper and his partner have no leads and a workload of aggravation. Throw in several more strange murders, a homicidal Colombian, a cursed ring that could bring the apocalypse, an attractive, vibrant reporter slated to become a damsel in distress, and Sam Harper is up against the clock to save lives by solving the case.

Marta Stephens does an admirable job of blending a solid crime mystery with an exotic supernatural touch and the undertone of religious beliefs. She never veers into the outrageous or unbelievable, but still manages to keep that small air of “what if”, integrating it all into a fabulous whole.

I am fast becoming a rabid fan of Ms Stephens, appreciating her reliable plot work and her memorable characters. Her superb protagonist, Sam Harper, is a genuine, somewhat imperfect, thoroughly human personality. From his dedication to the job to his rather messy personal life, it is this character that breathes vivid life into the pages of her books.

It is not even Thanksgiving yet in Chandler, Massachusetts but the holiday crime surge has already begun. For the third time the body of a teen aged boy has washed up on the shore. Each time the cause of death is different but the means of disposal is the same. With half of the police force out with the flu, manpower is short and so is time. Detective Sam Harper must find the killer, a seemingly impossible task in a case that is long on questions and short on clues.

Local reporter Jennifer Blake hasn't worked for her newspaper for long, and she is out to prove herself. She has been determined to break a story on the murders and has been doggedly trying to get Sam to give her an exclusive. He continues to refuse to talk to her but she doesn't want to take no for an answer.

When Jennifer is contacted by her former Anthropology professor, who she hasn't seen in years, she can't figure out what he could possibly want from her. Turns out he wants her to pick up an ancient ring from a local pawn shop for him. The ring is a cursed object, once owned thousands of years ago by a Pope who sold his soul to the Devil. She doesn't believe a word of it, but agrees to run the errand for him.

Her visit to the pawn shop plunges her deep into the heart of not only Sam's case in Chandler but into a sinister plot that reaches as far as South America and the Vatican in Rome. And it puts her squarely in the path of a killer.

I thought this was a great read. It is well written, smartly plotted and fast paced. I found it absorbing and had a hard time putting it down. It has believable, interesting characters and the mystery has plenty of twisting turns that kept me guessing, not to the very end but CLOSE to the end! If you like a good mystery, give Marta Stephens a try! This is the second entry in the Sam Harper series, the first one is Silenced Cry. ( )

The Devil Can Wait (A Sam Harper Crime Mystery) is the latest in what looks to be a winning crime mystery series from Marta Stephens. Well written and definitely recommended this complex, yet fast paced thriller mostly follows Detective Sam Harper, first introduced in Silenced Cry, as he attempts to stop what appears to be a serial killer on the loose.

The book opens with the latest in a series of murders of teenage gang leaders in Chandler, Massachusetts, then jumps to Columbia, South America, where a drug smuggler is dumped into the jungle after he steals from his employers. Luckily for him, he ends up not far from where his mother hides in the jungle, suspected of being a witch by local villagers, with a ring that holds her power and which her son longs to possess. The ring, however, is known to others and a series of murders follows it's possession, while the drug smuggler follows it's path to Chandler. As he kills those who stand in his way, we discover that the ring is an essential element in the biblical prophecy of the End of Days and he intends to be the one to fulfill it.

As the story progresses and the bodies pile up, all the threads of the story weave together, linking the ring and the serial killer cases together. As the End of the World prophecy is fulfilled, the true face of evil isn't unveiled until it’s nearly too late. ( )