Don’t start reading THE DOLL MAKER just before your bedtime. If you do, you will want to finish it. Its length --- a bit under 500 pages --- prohibits a one-sit read, though it doesn’t feel like a long book by any means. But you’ll try to get it done anyway, given that it seems to be nearly impossible to put down. It has everything that suspense/thriller fans could possibly want: compelling mysteries, very capable and dangerous antagonists, vulnerable victims, and a couple of ticking clocks. You couldn’t reasonably ask for anything more.

THE DOLL MAKER is the latest in Richard Montanari’s series featuring Philadelphia detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano. It involves primary and secondary mysteries, the latter being a part of Byrne’s past and the former being very much in the present. Several years ago, Byrne was instrumental in the arrest and conviction of a woman who murdered a young boy. Her long-anticipated execution is just two weeks away. Byrne, though, is convinced that the woman (who isn’t talking) is responsible for several other child murders, including at least one cold case disappearance of another young boy. In order to bring some closure to the missing --- and presumed dead --- child’s long-suffering mother, Byrne goes to some extraordinary lengths to determine his ultimate fate.

"[THE DOLL MAKER] has everything that suspense/thriller fans could possibly want: compelling mysteries, very capable and dangerous antagonists, vulnerable victims, and a couple of ticking clocks. You couldn’t reasonably ask for anything more."

Meanwhile, a pair of killers are abducting adolescents off the street and, after murdering them, displaying their bodies in artistic but bizarre tableaus on the streets of Philadelphia. The killings appear to be random at first, but when they subsequently become linked, it is up to Byrne and Balzano to figure out the motive.

The old and new cases begin to slowly intersect in ways that seem to be unlikely at first but ultimately make sense for a number of startling reasons. Montanari reveals bits and pieces to the readers ahead of our detectives, but not everything. At one point, roughly three-quarters of the way through, you will come to a conclusion about what is to occur just a half-step before Byrne and Balzano do. When the realization hits like a freight train --- and it will --- you won’t be able to read fast enough.

Along the way, Montanari offers up some fascinating nuggets about dolls, believe it or not. Even if you have never given a thought to one of history’s oldest toys before now, you will want to do further research after reading what Montanari gives you. And upon completion of the book, you won’t walk down certain aisles of a children’s toy store (or hear certain songs) without thinking of this riveting, startling and thrilling mystery.

THE DOLL MAKER ends on a couple of different and surprising notes. There appears to be some major changes coming for both characters, as well as a plot thread that hangs over for possible resolution at some point in the future. I doubt that Montanari will leave his readers at sea for long, however --- and, in any event, it’s doubtful you’ll miss a thing. Once you read the book, you will chisel Montanari’s name onto your must-read list.