There are few joys in a mystery reader’s life that are greater than finding a new author, particularly one who has just penned a new police procedural series. So let us acknowledge and give thanks to Larry Enmon, author of THE BURIAL PLACE. Enmon’s bona fides are unquestionable, having worked for the Houston Police Department for several years before joining the Secret Service. Add his immense talent to the mix, and you get one of the more impressive mystery debuts of recent memory.

THE BURIAL PLACE introduces Rob Soliz and Frank Pierce, senior detectives in the Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the Dallas Police Department. They are a bit of a Mutt and Jeff team --- Rob is short, stocky and married, while Frank is tall, thin and seemingly irrevocably committed to bachelorhood --- but they work well together. When Katrina Wallace, the spoiled 19-year-old daughter of the mayor of Dallas, goes missing, Rob and Frank are assigned to find her and bring her home. Frank, who has an uncanny sixth sense for such matters, initially believes that the young woman has been abducted. After surveillance videos indicate that he is correct, it is also Frank who is convinced that she is still alive. Once again he is on the money, though how long that will be true remains to be seen.

"Enmon’s on-the-mark pacing and rough but good-natured repartee between the two protagonists make it a non-stop read that hopefully will herald the beginning of a long-running series."

As the narrative moves back and forth between Katrina and the efforts of Rob and Frank to locate her, we learn that she has been abducted by a religious cult. Kept under lock and key and closely monitored by members of the cult in a compound-like property, Katrina only has her fiercely independent will to keep her going as the search for her continues. Given that the cult’s compound is isolated, readers many not think she will ever be found. Frank, who seems to be obsessed with the investigation for reasons that are gradually revealed, unearths a trail of missing persons cases where the victims in question share a number of physical characteristics. Utilizing a combination of modern technology, instinct and old-fashioned doggedness, Rob and Frank slowly but inexorably hone in on Katrina’s location.

Meanwhile, Katrina is in increasing danger. As the cult realizes that she is the subject of a statewide search, they decide that she is more of a liability than a blessing. Whether Rob and Frank become rescuers or undertakers is a question that is not answered until very close to the book’s conclusion, where almost no one emerges unscathed.

THE BURIAL PLACE is primarily a character-driven novel, with Rob and Frank at the wheel. Both men, individually and together, are extremely entertaining. Enmon’s on-the-mark pacing and rough but good-natured repartee between the two protagonists make it a non-stop read that hopefully will herald the beginning of a long-running series.