Five
By Ursula Archer
(Minotaur)


Geocaching ― the contemporary treasure hunt in which a GPS is used to find hidden objects ― lends itself to an intriguing melding of a gripping police procedural and an exciting update of the puzzle mystery in Austrian children’s book author Ursula Archer’s crime fiction debut.

Archer imbues “Five” with an inventive plot, tense suspense and fully realized characters that seem as if they have been around for years. Archer’s clever use of geocaching proves that the light puzzle mystery can be successfully incorporated into a hard-boiled novel with aplomb. An insider’s view of Austria, which is seldom used in U.S. mysteries, adds another welcome dimension to “Five.”

The murder investigation of a woman, whose feet are tattooed with GPS coordinates, leads detectives Beatrice Kaspary and her partner, Florin Wenninger, to a box buried by someone involved with geocaching. (AP)