loribonesscaswell

Dollycas’s Thoughts

A serial killer in Portland?? That may be the case. When Rookie Officer Laura Mori arrives at an inferno of a car on fire with her partner, she had no idea what was going to develop. What seemed to be a tragic traffic accident turns into a homicide investigation. Since her partner is due to leave for vacation Mori is assigned the case. The girl in the car turns out not to be who they thought but someone linked to a missing persons case involved several “lost girls”. What evolves will have you unable to put this book down.

R.J. Noonan has written a riveting mystery full of suspense. This story is played out in Portland, Oregon but could take place anywhere.

Laura Mori is a Japanese American whose parents think her job is just a phase she is going through. Because of her gentle demeanor they thought she would become a psychologist to help people, but college didn’t quite go as planned. They don’t really understand it, in fact, she is still living with her parents and her mother was upset the night of the accident that she didn’t call home and tell them she was going to be late. Her natural compassion is a double edged sword in her being a cop. She seems to get people, witnesses and suspects, to talk to her easily, but she does take the job home with her. She has a few issues of her own, but when working on the case, she works through her own problems the best she can. She is a complex main character.

The case focuses on the Jameson family. He is a rich author, his wife, number 2, works for charities and helps him organize his complicated life, his daughter, 17 year old Lucy, is a rebellious teenager that has her dad wrapped right around her little finger. The car in the accident belonged to them and the girl killed in the crash was Lucy’s friend. They live on a huge estate with stables and guest houses and they raise alpacas. Of course, they don’t do the work, they have a crew of hired hands.

The author twists and tangles the Jameson family together with their staff and a group of people living in the woods near their estate. There is also a corruption aspect in the police force. Readers follow Laura through her investigation. While trying to prove to everyone she can handle her job she does take some real risks. I wanted to jump into the book a few times to stop her, like when you scream at the characters in horror movies, telling them not to go into the dark scary places, same kind of thing here.

I am not going to say I was totally caught off guard by the way the story ended because I was in the ballpark as to the right suspect. I just needed the how and why to be definitely determined. It was even more twisted than I imagined.

Knowing this book is the start to a series is exciting for me. I found our protagonist to be very engaging and interesting. The other characters that I assume will be returning in future installments were also strong in this story. I am interested to see what the author has in store for all of them.

As this is the first story I have read by this author I now know I need to find out more about her and her other works.