Wrong Turn

December 17, 2012
Lt. Lucinda Pierce is shocked to learn from her boss that her last promotion wasn’t wholly on merit, in Edgar-finalist Fanning’s solid sixth mystery featuring the Virginia homicide detective (after 2011’s False Front). Pierce thought she landed the promotion as a result of working on the case of Martha Sherman, a woman convicted of murdering her stepdaughter, Emily. When the lead witness for the prosecution in the case, Lt. John Boswell, Pierce’s partner, died on the witness stand in the middle of Sherman’s trial, Pierce replaced Boswell as a witness. In order to get the jury to take Pierce’s testimony against Sherman more seriously, the department agreed to promote her to detective. But that revelation pales in comparison with the news that Sherman is innocent of the crime, and that Emily was actually the victim of a serial killer. Fanning gives her lead depth that complements a well-constructed plot, which only falters at the pat ending.

January 15, 2013
A homicide investigator is plagued by old cases that won't stay closed. It was the disappearance of Emily Sherman that first brought Lucinda Pierce (Twisted Reason, 2011, etc.) onto the homicide squad. Thirty-year veteran John Boswell put together a case against Emily's stepmother, Martha, but died of a heart attack before the trial ended, leaving rookie Lucinda to complete his testimony. Now, Emily's body is found where it shouldn't be: in the cellar of a rental property whose most recent tenant was almost certainly serial killer Mack Rogers. While backtracking the Sherman investigation, Lucinda gets a second shock. A new trial has been ordered for U.S. Representative Chris Phillips, convicted on Lucinda's evidence of killing his third wife. In the meantime, he's out on bond, terrorizing his second wife, Gloria Martinez, and fighting to get custody of his son Trevor. While Lucinda tries to keep the teenager safe from his lethal dad, a second youngster lays claim to her attention. Charley Spencer is arrested after she's found in a vandalized model home when she should be at school. Charley knows which of her middle school classmates trashed the place, but getting anyone to believe her is next to impossible. Can Lucinda find time to help her without neglecting her two newly reopened cases? Multiple threads are not Fanning's friends as she tries to decide whether she's writing a police procedural, a psychological thriller or neither.

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December 15, 2012
Lieutenant Lucinda Pierce begins to question her intuition and investigative ability when she learns that Martha Sherman, convicted for murdering her stepdaughter, Emily, is very likely innocent, since Emily's body has been found in the basement of a house rented by serial killer Mack Rogers. Lucinda is also stunned to learn that Chris Phillips, convicted for killing his third wife, has just been freed and is awaiting a new trial. To make matters even worse, Lucinda's good friend, 11-year-old Charley, is being falsely accused of vandalism. When Lucinda finds evidence missing in the Sherman case files, she digs deeper, and against the wishes of the DA, who is still holding Sherman. Multiple cases, interesting details of police work, and well-drawn characters, especially the complex, principled Lucinda, drive this fast-paced mystery that will appeal to readers who enjoy strong women protagonists.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)