Book Log 2015 #27: The City Under the Skin by Geoff Nicholson

Women in an unnamed city are being kidnapped, tattooed with cryptic markings, and then let go otherwise none the worse for wear. This draws the attention of one of the city's leading criminals, a killer with a map obsession who sees the markings as related to both his work and his hobby. He recruits a low-level hood trying to make good to get these women for him, a process which winds up bringing a rare map store clerk and a mysterious woman together in investigating just what these women represent, and how much danger everyone is in.

The book is a perfect marriage of Nicholson's crime fiction past and his interest in urban decay (prior to this novel he wrote the non-fiction book Walking in Ruins). Each character is compelling without being overly complex or unlikely, and the story does a great job of blending the personal aspects of the mystery with the larger, more common themes of crime fiction (the politics of organized crime, political corruption, etc.).

I really enjoyed this book, and look forward to delving into the author's previous works.

(Popsugar Reading Challenge: a book chosen based on its cover)