Run a Crooked Mile

February 9, 2009
When Michelle “Mike” Morgan turns up shot in the back near her woodland cabin, Rosemary Mendes takes in Mike's dog and determines to uncover the dead woman's past in LaPierre's well-plotted stand-alone, which vividly paints life at its simplest—and ugliest. Rosemary has moved to Northern California's sparsely populated Trinity County to shake the threats of her deceased husband's money-grubbing relatives and for the peaceful, slower-paced lifestyle. In fact, between her worrisome neighbors and vandalism problems, her life has hardly been uneventful—and Sheriff Gus Angstrom, a widower, is clearly interested in more than her case-related information. Murder and kidnapping drive the action to a heart-slamming conclusion. Fans of LaPierre's cozy series set in Port Silva, Calif. (Family Business
, etc.), will find virtually no gore, but they should be prepared for the kind of language typical of a gritty police procedural.

February 1, 2009
Two women have moved to Weaverville, CA, to escape from their former lives. When Mike Morgan is shot to death, Rosemary Mendes adopts Mike's dog. Finding the similarities in their situations too intriguing, Rosemary is soon probing into who Mike was and why she was murdered. A sense of impending danger slowly invades Rosemary's quiet life. For readers who like strong women characters in the tradition of the female sleuths of Jan Burke and Louise Penny, LaPierre's ("Baby Mine; Family Business") stand-alone novel works its magic.

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.