Ominous Obsession: Raff Rafferty Mystery Series, Book 2 is a police procedural mystery written by Robert Joseph. Raff has moved to New York City and is now working with the NYPD. He needed a change of scenery after his involvement in the shooting death of a murder suspect in Monterey and the ensuing scandal, and his daughter, Fati, had just begun her studies at NYU. Raff's boss, Steve Olsen, has assigned him the front desk as a way for him to get accustomed to the city and its inhabitants, but Raff would really rather be working in homicide. Working the desk, however, meant that he had the opportunity to speak with Faye Grunwald, the owner of one of the top modelling agencies in the city. She’s reporting the disappearance of Maricarmen Mora, a tall and elegant fashion model, who has worked with her for years. When the body of a model fitting that description is fished out of the Hudson River, Raff and Olsen think they might have found the missing woman, but her face was so badly disfigured by an acidic substance that they'll need a DNA match to be sure. Olsen assigns the case to Raff, whose interviews with the family and people who knew Maricarmen propel his almost obsessive attachment to the lovely and tragic woman behind the face.

Robert Joseph's police procedural mystery, Ominous Obsession: Raff Rafferty Mystery Series, Book 2 is well-written and absorbing. The New York City setting is a huge change for Raff after living in Monterey, California, and I enjoyed experiencing the City through his fresh eyes. The series of interviews he conducts with the family and other people who knew Maricarmen are fabulous and give the story depth and dimension. Each interviewee's account comes alive, and you can feel the growing obsession Raff has with that doomed woman waiting to be identified in the morgue. I also enjoyed watching as Raff gets to know the three priests who quickly become his friends. Joseph also provides the reader with red herrings galore in this thoughtful and entertaining story of high-fashion models in the big city. Ominous Obsession is highly recommended.

In Ominous Obsession, the second book in the Raff Rafferty mystery series by Robert Joseph, Raff Rafferty, our titular hero, has finally escaped the furor of an officer-involved shooting scandal. Moving across country from California all the way to Manhattan, he joins the New York City Police Department. He has a desk job, but soon gets tangled up in a homicide investigation when the body of a beautiful model is discovered in the river. Can he restore his life and reputation in the Big Apple or is his investigation of the baffling murder of a gorgeous model and his brush with the colorful, bizarre — and sometimes dangerous — world of high fashion destined to destroy him?

Even though Ominous Obsession by Robert Joseph is the second book in the series, it stands well on its own, giving you just enough backstory to clue the reader in on Rafferty's past, but not so much that it bogs the story down. Ominous Obsession is definitely a fast paced read that will keep you guessing along with the main character. It's full of twists that you won't see coming and heavily steeped in action and mystery.

Unfortunately, I was never able to dive into it as much as I wanted. While Rafferty was a decently realized character, everyone else seemed to be drawn in ethnic stereotypes. The cliched characterization took away from the intriguing plot, and I kept wishing that all the work put into the plot twists and mystery was also put into writing the characters as fully fleshed human beings. Anyone who is able to muscle past that should enjoy it though, and fans of the first Rafferty mystery will definitely enjoy the second.