TEST
Do you remember the first eight years of your life? Probably not well. What you do recall are probably bits and pieces, images more than a complete history of an event. Like most kids your memories are probably augmented by anecdotes from the mouths of your parents. My sons will have it from videos and scrap books as well as my memories. But what if that time of your life was a complete mystery to you? As if it had never happened?
D.D. Warren is settling into domestic bliss – or as close as you can get with an infant in the house. There is no rest for the sleep-deprived however, and D.D. lands feet first into an interesting case on her first days back from maternity leave. A woman named Charlie meets her outside a crime scene and tells an amazing tale. Two years ago Charlie’s best friend Randi was murdered. The crime scene was pristine, not a single clue left behind. A year ago her friend Jackie was murdered. Again, a pristine scene with zero clues and zero suspects. Both had died on January 21 at 8:00 pm. Now January 21 is rapidly approaching and Charlie is convinced she will be the one dead by the end of that fateful day. But she is preparing for the event – not only has she learned to be a marksman, to box dirty and viciously, to fight like she means it – she has met D. D. And she wants D.D. to solve the crime once it is committed.
There is not much D.D. can do. No crime has been committed, no threats have been given. Yet even as she works on solving other, more active cases, D.D. finds herself researching this one. She gets in touch with the detectives in the two previous murders. She reviews crime scene files. Consults with a private expert. Nothing is as fascinating, though, as what she finds when she begins to investigate her potential victim. Because Charlene Rosalind Carter Grant has a very interesting history indeed.
Gardner excels at the psychological thriller. The question of who is behind a crime – even as you question if there even is a crime – is one that she handles quite, quite well. Were Charlie’s friends unfortunate victims of coincidence? Or does something tie their murders together? If so, where is the evidence? How can this killer be such a ghost?
Even as we struggle to find answers to these questions, we find ourselves faced with more. Criminals start becoming victims, forcing D.D. to work with sex offenders to determine who could be targeting pedophiles. She is not loving her partnership with Detective O, a sharp, attractive, competitive woman who reminds D.D. very much of herself in her younger years. Then it looks as though the two cases might be connected. Things get curiouser and curiouser as the clock keeps ticking toward a – ahem – deadline.
This is the sixth Det. D.D. Warren novel and D.D. is her typical self here. We learn more about her background and also see her settling into parenthood and family life, but she is still brilliant, driven, and snarky. The highlight for D.D. fans is seeing that she’s willing to come home earlier, round out her life more, and let more love in. It’s good to see her show real character growth. I especially liked towards the end where we see her learn to really balance her relationship with her parents and to want better for her own family.
Charlie is actually our main character for the novel, and she is an interesting package of contradictions. A 911 dispatcher, she tends to be cool under pressure, resourceful, and a fast thinker. When it comes to her personal apocalypse, she seems reluctant to utilize those skills and falls back on brute force. She is also hard to get to know. The novel takes place over the course of no more than a few days (aside from the first and last chapters) and during that time Charlie is terrified for her life and living like she was dying (and not in a fun bull riding, sky diving sort of way). Who was Charlie before Jackie died and the countdown began? We don’t really know. Who will she be when the dust finally settles? No clue. The characters in this novel (with the exception of D.D.) live to serve the mystery plot.
That is part of what kept the book from being a DIK for me. The second reason was the issue with the forgotten past. I found it odd that Charlene was so uninterested in her early years, given how children often seem almost obsessed with their personal history. I let that go, chalking it up to a character quirk. But I struggled with the fact that her aunt was not more proactive in dealing with the issue given the history of that situation, especially in the year after Jackie’s death. She knows what her neice is thinking, knows the situation seems very dangerous, and yet doesn’t seem at all anxious to help with the information she has. When Charlie was a child, it made more sense to fall back on the excuses that the medical professionals had provided, but it seems almost cruel to deny her the information now that she’s an adult.
Those two foibles aside, this book is a very good mystery. Suspenseful and interesting, with lots of twists and turns. Fans of the author will be interested to know that we have guest appearances/updates from Pierce Quincy and Kimberly Quincy from the FBI profiler series and Roan Griffin from The Survivors Club. It was especially fun to catch up with Roan. I would definitely recommend that fans of Ms. Gardner pick up a copy of this book. For fans of mysteries, you can’t go wrong with this author. She’s a truly amazing writer who has clearly found her niche in this genre.
Grade: B
Book Type: Suspense
Sensuality: Subtle
Review Date: 06/03/12
Publication Date: 2012/02
I've been an avid reader since 2nd grade and discovered romance when my cousin lent me Lord of La Pampa by Kay Thorpe in 7th grade. I currently read approximately 150 books a year, comprised of a mix of Young Adult, romance, mystery, women's fiction, and science fiction/fantasy.
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Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.