The best mysteries, for my taste, involve not just a well-conceived and conveyed plot, but an examination of the psyche of the characters involved. Sometimes the focus is more in the mind of the killer, sometimes more in the tortured soul (don't forget soul and mind have common etymological roots) of the investigator. Blood Memory by Greg Iles is definitely in the latter category as the protagonist's own history becomes credibly interwoven with solving a series of bizarre murders in New Orleans. Forensic investigators of all sorts are popular main characters (e.g., Patricia Cornwell's medical examiner, Iris Johansen's forensic sculptor) and Iles' forensic odontologist, Catherine Ferry, is a well-developed and complex woman who finds out that the sexual abuse angle of the murders has some very personal meaning for her. Sexual abuse of children is a much more common crime than most people realize--or want to realize--and its conflicting emotions and outcomes are well drawn here. To his additional credit, Iles follows the text with a plea to hear out and support victims of sexual abuse.
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