“You Can Scream,” by Rebecca Zanetti. Publication Date: Dec. 16. 377 pages.

Jumping into the middle of a series, no matter the storytelling format, can be daunting. Who are these people? What’s going on? You have to go with it and hope there’s enough exposition to ground you in the narrative.

Rebecca Zanetti’s “You Can Scream” is the fifth book in her series about FBI Special Agent Laurel Snow. After a short prologue to set the mood, the first chapter opens with a banger of a line.

“It had been exactly twenty-nine days since her half sister had brutally stabbed their father to death.”

You’re off to the races. Try to keep up.

There’s a central standalone mystery of strange deaths occurring around their section of Washington State. Couple that with a sniper attack targeting Snow’s half-sister Abigail after her first courtroom appearance. It’s all playing out against a backdrop of ongoing storylines built up over the four previous books. Zanetti does a good job of catching you up to speed with the characters and their relationships.

Agent Snow almost certainly is on the autism spectrum. She has difficulty reading emotional cues from other people and she can be hyper focused on her tasks. Zanetti’s prose can be detached and clinical when Snow is the POV character, which feels off-putting until you realize it’s a stylistic choice. When the narrative shifts to a different character — Snow’s boyfriend Huck from Fish and Wildlife, or even her psychopath half-sister Abigail — the descriptions have more emotional connotations.

It’s a solid thriller with a decent roster of characters. Abigail is such a cold, scheming manipulator that Hannibal Lecter would be forced to tip his hat to her if they passed on the street.

“You Can Scream” can be read as a standalone novel, but reading the previous books would no doubt make for a richer experience.

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Here are a few short takes on some recent reads.

* “The Land of Laughs,” by Jonathan Carroll. A young couple researching their favorite children’s book author for a posthumous biography travel to the town where he spent his final years and discover a magical secret about the residents. It’s a good story about the power of imagination.

* “Comeback,” by Dick Francis. A British diplomat is roped into investigating a series of horse deaths at a veterinary hospital. If you’ve ever wondered how many ways someone can commit equestrian homicide, this is the book for you.

* “Game Changer,” by Rachel Reid. The MM hockey romance “Heated Rivalry” is currently scorching TV screens via HBO Max. “Game Changer” is the novel set before that. A closeted hockey player in a scoring slump buys a blueberry smoothie from a cute guy in a shop and there’s instant chemistry. The characters are due to appear in an episode of “Heated Rivalry.”

* “Death at a Highland Wedding,” by Kelley Armstrong. In this fourth entry in the “A Rip Through Time” series, our time-traveling heroine and her friends leave Edinburgh for the Scottish highlands for new characters and of course a new murder to investigate.

* “The Sea Wolf,” by Jack London. A nerdy book critic is shipwrecked and rescued by seal-hunters and their enormous, angry captain with a taste for philosophical debate. The adventure isn’t as grand as “Treasure Island,” but it’s engaging to see a pampered weakling discover his true strengths.

Terry Estep can be reached at testep@newsandsentinel.com