While Hoag's work inevitably is compared to that of Patricia Cornwell (Postmortem, Body of Evidence, All That Remains, and many others), the most relevant literary precedent for Ashes to Ashes is the work of Thomas Harris. Cornwell's work often involves a similar mix of romance and mystery, and her main character, Dr. Kay Scarpetta, is in some ways similar to Hoag's Kate Conlan (both are single women associated with the legal system). However, when it comes to novels about serial killers, Harris's novels have been unimaginably successful and, thus, influential.

Harris's trilogy—The Red Dragon, The Silence of the Lambs, and Hannibal—makes use of the serial killer as an awesome spectacle for the viewer. The pleasure of these books is in observing the sublime intellect of the killer—and the sublime violence of his acts. The FBI profilers are involved in a...