In this terrific thriller, Poppy Rice, director of the FBI's crime lab, reinvestigates the case of an unlikely young female killer on death row in Texas. Poppy's puzzled that the jury accepted evidence that an 88-pound drug addict could murder two people with an ax, based on the testimony of a quack. But she's working against the clock (the execution of Rona Leigh Glueck, now a saintly and eloquent born-again Christian, is rapidly approaching) and against a network of good old boys, including the governor, who aren't eager to see the evidence reexamined. Though Poppy (whom some readers may remember as a sidekick in Mary-Ann Smith's An American Killing) is whip-smart and tenacious as an alligator, she can't get a stay of execution.

But Rona Leigh manages to cheat death dramatically: she survives Texas's lethal-injection cocktail and escapes, with the help of a rebel preacher and his group of New Shakers, who believe she's the second coming of Christ. Now Poppy's task is threefold: find Rona Leigh Glueck, find out how she survived, and find out if she's innocent. Smith's pacing and plot development are subtly perfect, and she renders just enough of Poppy's personal life to make her interestingly enigmatic. Good news: Love Her Madly is the first in a series. --Barrie Trinkle