Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine

Max Allan Collins (along with Matthew V. Clemens, his able collaborator) ventures into serial killer territory with What Doesn't Kill Her.  It's set in Cleveland, which gives Collins a chance to make a reference to the Cleveland Torso Murderer, about whom Collins wrote in one of his Eliot Ness novels. But this isn't a torso murderer at work.  It's a very clever killer who's managed to avoid detection for many years.  

Collins takes a different approach to the hunt for the killer.  A young woman who survived his attack on her family because he wanted her to tell his story hasn't spoken for many years and has been institutionalized.  When she sees a story of murders similar to those of her family, she knows that the killer is still at work, and she's determined to find him.  She breaks her silence and starts to work, with the help of the members of a Victims of Violent Crimes support group.  At the same time, a young cop who knew her in high school is also investigating the crime.  He believes he has evidence that a serial killer is at work, though it's not easy to convince his superiors that the evidence is valid.

This is a fast-moving story with attractive lead characters that you'll be rooting for all the way.  The members of the support group are also a very likable crew, bound together by a common goal and their separate violent pasts.  All this, and Collins has a real shocker in store for you at the end.  Check it out.