A contemporary noir that focuses on a former homicide cop who chose integrity over protecting the thin blue line.
Former Indianapolis detective Vinnie Tylor is a woman living in the shadows after a bout of grit and courage blew up her life. When she went undercover for internal affairs and blew the whistle on those in her unit who were using their authority to rape and traffic vulnerable women, they nearly beat her to death. Vinnie fled to Maryland and a quiet, small coastal town of Willis Harbor where she lives out in a cabin in the woods and self imposed isolation. Her attempt to find peace in retirement is shattered when a Hannah, a local high school girl, gives Vinnie a note on the back of a receipt that pleads for help in finding her best friend, Avery Adair, who went missing. Despite her misgivings, Vinnie takes on an investigative role and digs into Avery’s last known movements and dangerous online activity.
Let’s face it: Vinnie is damaged and has a lot of work to do in recovery from all that happened back in Indianapolis. She’s hesitant to trust anyone but has to in order to carry out her mission of bringing Avery home. She can’t solve this alone but fights against sharing any information even as she needs the local cops on her side since she’s no longer part of law enforcement. She’s definitely suffering post traumatic stress and often wobbles with making decisions. There’s quite a bit of social commentary on police corruption, gay relationships, dangers of the internet, and poverty. I liked the writing style even as I found myself somewhat impatient with Vinnie at times. The plot was generally a missing teenaged girl trope, but there were some surprises as the mysteries are revealed. This is the first in what is meant to be a new series, and I’m sure I’ll check out the next installment.
I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publishers. The narrator, Lisa Flanagan, has a great voice for the personality of the damaged Vinnie without being melodramatic or overwrought. She also captures the accents and tone of the other characters and makes their roles sound unique as well. The production definitely enhanced my enjoyment of the book and created an effective immersive atmospheric performance.
This is a debut in a new series.
Genre and tags: police procedural, PTSD, LGBTQ+, incel, kidnapping, missing persons, investigation, mystery
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