THE BLACK JERSEY

A brilliant and devious criminal turns the Tour de France into a life-or-death race.

Following a glossary of cycling terms and a cast of characters, the story kicks off in the arch narrative voice of Marc Moreau, a “domestique”—that is, a nonleading member of a cycling team, "from the French for 'servant.' " He’s been aware of both the star quality and cockiness of American cyclist Steve Panata from the moment they both joined the tour in 2006. Ten years on, Steve is at the top of his game and he and Marc have developed a deep synchronicity. As the extended 2016 race proceeds in stages, with regular updates of the leaderboard for the reader, British cyclist Saul Fleming is found dead in his bathtub, his wrists slit. At first his death looks like suicide. But after police comb through the crime scene, they decide it was probably murder, for Fleming drowned with bruises on his body as if he'd been held down. When the police confidentially share their findings with Marc, asking for his help getting inside the cycling circuit because he's a former military policeman, he seizes the role of amateur sleuth. His close relationship with the other cyclists is complicated by his new love, the mechanic Fiona. Worried that this wonderful development may compromise his synchronicity with Steve, Marc still manages to identify one of Steve’s chief rivals as the likely killer, but how to prove it? When a suspicious accident lands Steve in the hospital, Marc realizes just how urgent it is to catch the killer.

Patterson (Milena, 2017) offers complex character portraits, a dramatic depiction of the Tour de France, and a nifty whodunit.