Suspended police officer Ellery Hathaway and FBI Agent Reed Markham are back in Joanna Schaffhausen's latest novel.
Reed asks Ellery's help in investigating a cold case, one that is intensely personal. Reed knew he was adopted as an infant, and when he was eighteen, his father told him the circumstances of his birth mother's murder and Reed's subsequent adoption by the Markham's.
In No Mercy, the previous book, a gift for DNA testing revealed secrets that made Reed question everything he thought he knew. His foundation begins to crumble.
Reed and Ellery head to Las Vegas to delve into the unsolved murder of Reed's mother, Camilla. A forty-year-old cold case presents multiple difficulties, and Reed is both determined and fearful of the outcome, which may destroy the family that raised him.
Schaffhausen does a good job of keeping the possibilities open, so there are several good options to keep the reader guessing. Reed and Ellery have complicated pasts to resolve, but the two combine their strengths to support each other.
This series has gotten better with each new addition. I'm really curious about where the next book will lead.
(I don't like either of these covers, but at least the second one has some connection to the story.)
NetGalley/St. Martin's Press
Suspense. Feb. 11, 2020. Print length: 336 pages.
