The Killing Hour

The Killing Hour is a thriller by the American writer Lisa Gardner, published in 2003. Its villain has turned murder into a puzzle with a time limit, and the book is built around how quickly the police can read it.

Each time he strikes he takes two victims. He waits for the first body to be found, because that body carries the clues that would let investigators save the second, who is left to die slowly while they work. The police have never yet been in time.

Years pass, and for the killer nothing has changed. A heat wave of epic proportions settles over the country and two girls disappear, which is how the game begins again for a rookie FBI agent named Kimberly Quincy. She is certain that the killer's deadline can be met, but doing it will mean breaking rules against an opponent who has had years to perfect his method. The clock rather than the detective sets the pace, and the reader learns the killer's rules at about the same rate as the police.