New Jeffery Deaver Book Series On Way

(CBS)  Fans of best-selling mystery writer Jeffery Deaver are in for another thrill ride.

His popular, quadriplegic crime fighter Lincoln Rhyme is back in a seventh book in the new novel, "The Cold Moon." In it, Rhyme and partner Amelia Sacks are in a race against time to catch a serial killer who's known as "The Watch Maker," because he always leaves a clock with the body of the victim.

Rhyme is a forensic criminologist who, despite being severely disabled, always manages to track down the serial killer on the loose, with the help of his partner and beautiful, longtime girlfriend, Det. Amelia Sachs. She is his eyes, ears and legs on the street.

On The Early Show Tuesday, Deaver told co-anchor Rene Syler he introduces a new character in "The Cold Moon" who will be the subject of a new series. She is a specialist in kinesics, or the study of body language.

He also revealed several other new ventures.

The versatile and prolific Deaver said he turns out a new book about every eight months, on average.

That's fine by Rhyme fans, he observed, saying: "They love Lincoln Rhyme. He's a very interesting character. He's a quadriplegic, and is severely disabled, and yet I have been astonished at the popularity of this man. The books are sold in 150, 200 countries, translated in about 35, 36 languages. And I have fan clubs in Albania and Japan. Actually, I don't have fan clubs — Lincoln Rhyme has fan clubs. They don't invite me. They'd like Lincoln Rhyme to come visit."

Why is the watch maker in "The Cold Moon" so important to nab?

"I love my villains, and I came up with this idea of a man who constructs his plots for murder with the care with which he'd make clocks and watches," he said. "That's his hobby in his past. He did make clocks and watches. And I thought, 'I'm going to lay — make layer upon layer upon layer of plot, of twists and turns and surprises,' and it really plays into the hand of my character, Lincoln Rhyme, because he likes to unravel the plots. I think they're a good combination, a good matched pair of protagonist and villain."

The new character, Deaver said, is named Katherine Dance.

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