What bothered me the most about this book was the characterisation. The secondary characters were great, but the Criminal Minds characters were... not much like they're in the show. Some, for example Rossi, were fine, but others were not in character rather often. The interaction between the BAU and the two local detectives was a bit off, especially in the first few pages. The BAU agents sounded too condescending, considering that the people they were talking to had asked for their help and were cooperating with them. This was not as obvious after the first two chapters, but they still stayed a bit too rude compared to the show.

I also found that the description of the agents was a bit too detailed. Assuming that the main readers of these tie-in novels are fans of the show, describing what the main characters are wearing more than once is unnecessary. We can all imagine them and it didn't add anything to the plot.

The case was ok, but the identity of the killer is predictable if you've read a couple of murder mysteries. Still, it was interesting to see BAU follow the clues.

In case there are people worried about possible spoilers, the book is set shortly after Rossi joins the team, but other than Rossi being there and a brief mention of Gideon, there aren't any other references to the show. ( )

A decent enough read if you are fully prepared for brain candy and nothing taxing. Good reading for the afternoon spent in the hammock under the apple trees. ( )