Review of Head Cases (Head Cases #1) by John McMahon

The initial installment of John McMahon's police procedural series follows a genius, socially awkward leader and a special team of FBI investigators who reinvent methods of finding their culprit in a smart, intriguing, and satisfying mystery.

Head Cases tracks FBI agent Gardner Camden (who has a brilliant analytical mind but is interpersonally awkward) and his group of agents in the Patterns and Recognitions (PAR) unit.

A recent murder victim's DNA matches a long-dead serial killer, and a string of bodies hold clues that seem to be left specifically for Gardner to find. He and his unorthodox team must use their areas of expertise and their instincts to solve the riddles and catch the serial killer who is killing serial killers--before he harms their loved ones and gets away with it all.

This group of genius, odd, complementary main protagonists often felt like an FBI version of Slough House in Slow Horses, in the best way.

There seems to be someone on the inside of the FBI assisting the killer, or at least compromising the investigation, and McMahon made me question who this might be without cheap red herrings or manipulation.

The crimes essential to the plot were disturbing and gory, but McMahon doesn't glorify the gore, and the book's heart is the PAR's power and success in inventing fluid approaches to solid procedure--here, carried out by unorthodox, possibly neurodivergent, not politically savvy, and excellent investigators.

This was smart, intriguing, action-packed at times, and both the complexity of the investigation and its resolution felt satisfying. I hope Head Cases is made into a movie.

I listened to Head Cases as a library audiobook through Libby. I believe I heard about this book in a roundup of mystery novels recommended by national security agents.

Bossy Love for Mysteries

The next installment of this series, Inside Man, was recently published.

McMahon is also the author of the Detective P. T. Marsh series.

For other Bossy reviews and mysteries I've loved, please check out the books at this link.