Title:	The Unclaimed Victim
	Author:	D.M. Pulley
	Published:	November 14, 2017, Thomas & Mercer
	No. of Pages:	432
	Cover Price:	$15.95 Paperback, $4.99 Kindle

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As is D.M. Pulley’s style, The Unclaimed Victim, covers two periods of time; in this case the mid 1930s and late 1990s. April 7, 1999, Kris Wiley is sitting in the Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office and has just been informed that parts of her father, who has been missing, have been found. She is told that the crime is similar to some murders that took place in the 1930s, which are still unsolved, and were committed by someone who has been called “The Torso Killer.” Kris refuses to believe that her father is dead, even though his best friend, Ben, who is a deputy sheriff, assures her that the body parts are his. Kris begins to investigate.

Back in the 30s a prostitute named Ethel had friends who disappeared and were victims of The Torso Killer. The novel also follows Ethel and what happens to her as she tries to avoid The Torso Killer and also find what happened to her friends.

Pulley is an excellent writer, evident in this book, and also her previous novel which won several awards. She easily goes from the 30s back to the 90s and at the same time keeps readers enthralled as the suspense builds. Kris puts herself in danger while investigating, and so does Ethel.

At the end of the novel, everything comes together, but not like readers would expect. Things are not as they appear, and readers will be on the edges of their seats, and find it difficult to put the book down until they get to the end. Although a work of fiction, The Torso Killer apparently existed, and Pulley has done some research and made the book fascinating since it is based loosely on something that actually occurred.

Kris and Ethel are quite well-developed characters, and seem real; the scenarios also ring true. The book is interesting, and will definitely keep the interest of most readers who enjoy the thriller genre. The suspense begins at the start of the book and continues throughout. Pulley is a fairly new author, and is one to watch - she has an interesting style writes in a way that readers won’t want to put the book down.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.