For those readers who, like myself, are counting the minutes to Ian Rankin’s next Rebus novel, we may have found a writer who can quench that desire. I confess that Alex Gray and her series featuring Detective Superintendent Lorimer were not previously known to me, but I was lucky to have found them --- and now have a handful of backlist titles to add to my to-be-read pile.

Set in Scotland and shifting between present day and 20 years prior, KEEP THE MIDNIGHT OUT features two murders, decades apart, that bear such similarities it makes the investigator who experienced both slayings shake with fear at a moment of deadly déjà vu. Lorimer is on holiday. Unfortunately for him, his brief respite off the Isle of Mull will turn into anything but a relaxing vacation. The body of a young boy is found floating in a lake near where a father and son were trying to enjoy a day of fishing.

"KEEP THE MIDNIGHT OUT is well-written, atmospheric and often brooding. Alex Gray is definitely an author I will seek out again to appease my Ian Rankin fix for some terrific Scottish-based crime thrillers."

The Scottish town where this occurred is not a large one, and word of the murder quickly spreads to Lorimer. He is particularly alarmed that the boy had red hair and was bound prior to being dropped into the lake. The investigation immediately turns up evidence that the young man had been tortured. Whether or not this was done viciously, intending to inflict great pain, or part of some bizarre sadomasochistic ritual is something that requires further digging.

The detective assigned to the case is Stevie Crozier. Initially, she is not at all pleased to share any part of the case with Lorimer, and it will take some time for her to recognize that Lorimer's knowledge of the 20-year-old case is vital to solving the present one. Lorimer realizes that, not only is the victim similar to the one he investigated two decades ago, the same individual is behind both crimes.

Furthermore, Lorimer and Crozier know this indicates that the killer is not a young man, and also suggests that the culprit may have had access to or owned some sort of boat. The novel jumps back in time 20 years earlier to depict a younger and far less seasoned version of Lorimer as he works a murder case. There are passages that come directly from the mind of the killer --- and they are quite chilling. This monster was definitely targeting young men who seemed to be homosexual, and subjected his victims to extreme pain and suffering before eventually killing them.

The killer in present time considers confessing but opts to stay in hiding, especially when the father of the latest victim appears to be the main suspect due to his failure to recognize his son’s proclivity for men. He is happy to slink back into the darkness, waiting to see if Lorimer and Crozier can put the puzzle pieces together and turn their attention to him. When they find someone who witnessed the same man with both victims, they finally have the break in the case they’ve been waiting for. All it will take is some further investigating to find their man. However, they never realize that he is nearby and may very well strike first.

The novel gets its title from the final line of the story when DCI Lorimer thinks to himself: Could his spirits rise above it all and take flight, seeing only the brightness of day to keep the midnight out? KEEP THE MIDNIGHT OUT is well-written, atmospheric and often brooding. Alex Gray is definitely an author I will seek out again to appease my Ian Rankin fix for some terrific Scottish-based crime thrillers.