In this 1995 winner of the Edgar Award for best mystery novel, crime reporter Molly Cates has chronicled the exploits of Louie Bronk, a brutal serial killer scheduled for execution, for her first book. With his execution just a few days away, Molly decides to write the closing chapter on her disturbing relationship with the man known as the Texas Scalper. Strangely, both her boss and the husband of the woman whose murder got Bronk the death penalty pressure her to back off the story. When she receives a chilling anonymous letter and another body is found, she begins to suspect that Bronk is not the killer at all. Her quest for the truth, she discovers, not only discredits her work, but places her own life on the line.


From Publishers Weekly
Walker's second well-wrought mystery, following her Agatha-winning Zero at the Bone , will add to her following. Molly Cates, a crime writer in Austin, Tex., is planning to cover the execution of doggerel-writing serial murderer Louie Bronk, whose five-year killing spree is the subject of Molly's recently published book. But Charlie McFarland, whose wealthy wife, Tiny, was Louie's last victim and who has since remarried, wants the past left buried, suggesting fresh publicity will threaten the stability of his grown daughter, who was 11 at the time of her mother's murder. Next, an anonymous note to Molly warns, in verse, "Now that Louie's doomed to die / I may give his craft a try." Arriving at the McFarland house for a meeting, Molly stumbles on the corpse of Charlie's second wife, Georgia. The police--including Molly's attractive and still interested ex-husband, Grady Traynor--are eying Charlie and his grown children with suspicion when Louie issues an explosive statement that raises questions about Tiny's death and compels Molly to take a hard look at the investigative work she has done. The finale, in which Molly is almost killed, is somewhat gratuitous, but that aside, Molly and her disturbing subject command the reader's rapt attention. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Obsessed crime reporter Molly Cates (Zero at the Bone, St. Martin's, 1991) scrambles to put the finishing touches on her coverage of a Texas serial murderer about to be executed. Just as she contacts a prominent Austin family victimized by the killer, however, murder strikes down the second wife in exactly the same way as it did the first. Horrified, Molly leans on the detective in charge (one of her ex-husbands, if not exactly a best friend), who advises her to leave well enough alone. A very well-written and plausibly plotted second effort, much deserving of purchase.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Kirkus Reviews
One of the creepiest killers since Hannibal Lecter meets a plot and heroine worthy of Patricia Cornwell. Welcome to the big time, Mary Willis Walker.


From AudioFile
Molly Cates, a crime reporter for the Lone Star Monthly, receives an ominous letter about a serial killer to be executed in a few days. Judith Ivey is the perfect reader for this Southern mystery. The Texas twang she gives the characters is realistic, and she brings to life dozens of colorful personalities. Audio adds another dimension to this Edgar Award-winning novel. M.H.S. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
Molly Cates is a good ol' Texas gal who has spent the last 11 years of her career as a journalist obsessed with down-and-out serial killer Louie Bronk. From the first time Molly heard about Louie--after he'd confessed to killing beautiful socialite Tiny McFarland and a dozen other Texas women--she'd wanted to write his story. Her book, Sweating Blood, has just been published, and Louie, after 11 years on Death Row, is about to be executed. But in his remaining hours, Louie screams the "red scream" and proclaims his innocence. Hooked yet again by Louie's odd forcefulness, Molly reinvestigates the years-old story and finds herself caught in a series of bizarre events that end in a stunningly unexpected climax. Walker is a masterly writer, weaving horror, humor, and suspense into a story that is gripping and provocative. Molly Cates is full of vinegar, a wonderfully appealing heroine with a lot of guts, a fine sense of humor, a more than passing acquaintance with life's ironies, and enough of her own dark secrets to make her both vulnerable and humane. Two thumbs up--way up!--for this outstanding book. Emily Melton


From Kirkus Reviews
Now that homicidal drifter Louie Bronk's about to be executed for a murder he committed 11 years ago, Texas reporter Molly Cates, whose one claim to fame is her book on Louie, prepares her last article on the case. Oddly, her boss and powerful contractor Charlie McFarland, whose wife Tiny was the one victim habitual killer Louie will be executed for, pressure her to walk away from the story. But Molly won't walk away, especially after she starts to get a series of threatening notes aping Louie's prison poems; Charlie's second wife, Georgia, is killed (by a copycat?); and so is an important witness in Tiny's death shortly after Molly talks to him and senses he's hiding something. Then, four days before the execution, Louie recants his decade-old confession, claims he never killed Tiny, and demands that Molly help him prove it. When Molly, supported by her ex-husband, police lieutenant Grady Traynor, follows Louie's story about his telltale 1972 Ford Mustang to a Fort Worth junkyard, she walks into enough trouble to prove that somebody doesn't want the whole story to come out; but is that proof enough for the law-and-order governor? And if Louie didn't kill Tiny, then who did? One of the creepiest killers since Hannibal Lecter meets a plot and heroine worthy of Patricia Cornwell. Welcome to the big time, Mary Willis Walker (Zero at the Bone, 1991). -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Review
"One of the creepiest killers since Hannibal Lecter  meets a plot and heroine worthy of Patricia  Cornwell. Welcome to the big time, Mary Willis Walker."  --Kirkus Reviews.
  
"Remarkable." --Denver  Post.

"A page-turning success."  --Dallas Morning News

ANNOTATION

In a macabre gesture, Louis Bronk, a.k.a. the Texas Scalper, has invited journalist for Lone Star Monthly, Molly Cates, to his lasts days on Earth. Molly gets pressure to back off the story. Then comes a chilling message and another dead body. And Molly has to face the fact that Bronk may be executed for the wrong reason--and she may be the next victim. Original.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In her latest, hard-hitting novel of suspense, award-winning writer Mary Willis Walker introduces a gutsy new heroine - Texas-based crime reporter Molly Cates - and a chilling tale of violence and revenge. As The Red Scream begins, Molly has just published her first true crime book, which describes the blood-curdling exploits of serial killer Louie Bronk. Now Louie is on death row, about to be executed by lethal injection. Molly will be there as a witness, and she wants to write about it - the final coda to her story. But suddenly she's being strongly discouraged - by her boss at the Lone Star Monthly and by Charlie McFarland, the millionaire real estate developer whose first wife, Tiny, was Bronk's most famous victim - and the only one whose murder is a capital offense. Then Molly starts to receive dark hints that Louie may not have killed Tiny after all. First the veracity of her book is threatened, and then her very life. Caught between moral imperative and personal threat, Molly realizes that by attempting to save Louie, she will be putting herself in jeopardy, and discrediting her own work. Mary Willis Walker brings a lusty new voice to the mystery scene. In Molly Cates she has created a character just cheeky and appealing enough to take her place among the top rank of female protagonists - Kinsey Millhone, Kat Colorado, and Kay Scarpetta.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Walker's second well-wrought mystery, following her Agatha-winning Zero at the Bone , will add to her following. Molly Cates, a crime writer in Austin, Tex., is planning to cover the execution of doggerel-writing serial murderer Louie Bronk, whose five-year killing spree is the subject of Molly's recently published book. But Charlie McFarland, whose wealthy wife, Tiny, was Louie's last victim and who has since remarried, wants the past left buried, suggesting fresh publicity will threaten the stability of his grown daughter, who was 11 at the time of her mother's murder. Next, an anonymous note to Molly warns, in verse, ``Now that Louie's doomed to die / I may give his craft a try.'' Arriving at the McFarland house for a meeting, Molly stumbles on the corpse of Charlie's second wife, Georgia. The police--including Molly's attractive and still interested ex-husband, Grady Traynor--are eying Charlie and his grown children with suspicion when Louie issues an explosive statement that raises questions about Tiny's death and compels Molly to take a hard look at the investigative work she has done. The finale, in which Molly is almost killed, is somewhat gratuitous, but that aside, Molly and her disturbing subject command the reader's rapt attention. (Aug.)

Library Journal

Obsessed crime reporter Molly Cates (Zero at the Bone, St. Martin's, 1991) scrambles to put the finishing touches on her coverage of a Texas serial murderer about to be executed. Just as she contacts a prominent Austin family victimized by the killer, however, murder strikes down the second wife in exactly the same way as it did the first. Horrified, Molly leans on the detective in charge (one of her ex-husbands, if not exactly a best friend), who advises her to leave well enough alone. A very well-written and plausibly plotted second effort, much deserving of purchase.

BookList - Emily Melton

Molly Cates is a good ol' Texas gal who has spent the last 11 years of her career as a journalist obsessed with down-and-out serial killer Louie Bronk. From the first time Molly heard about Louie--after he'd confessed to killing beautiful socialite Tiny McFarland and a dozen other Texas women--she'd wanted to write his story. Her book, "Sweating Blood", has just been published, and Louie, after 11 years on Death Row, is about to be executed. But in his remaining hours, Louie screams the "red scream" and proclaims his innocence. Hooked yet again by Louie's odd forcefulness, Molly reinvestigates the years-old story and finds herself caught in a series of bizarre events that end in a stunningly unexpected climax. Walker is a masterly writer, weaving horror, humor, and suspense into a story that is gripping and provocative. Molly Cates is full of vinegar, a wonderfully appealing heroine with a lot of guts, a fine sense of humor, a more than passing acquaintance with life's ironies, and enough of her own dark secrets to make her both vulnerable and humane. Two thumbs up--way up!--for this outstanding book.

AudioFile - Michael H. Sussman

Molly Cates, a crime reporter for the Lone Star Monthly, receives an ominous letter about a serial killer to be executed in a few days. Judith Ivey is the perfect reader for this Southern mystery. The Texas twang she gives the characters is realistic, and she brings to life dozens of colorful personalities. Audio adds another dimension to this Edgar Award-winning novel. M.H.S. cAudioFile, Portland, Maine

AudioFile - Dean R. Thompson