Eden

Starred review from August 3, 2015
In Australian author Fox’s nail-biting follow-up to Hades, Sydney homicide detective Eden Archer goes undercover at a prosperous farm that employs troubled types, in order to find out what happened to three missing young women, one of whom was sleeping with the farm’s owner, Jackie Rye. Meanwhile, crime lord Hades, who raised Eden, has asked her partner, Frank Bennett, to suss out information about a man who seems to be stalking him. The triple narrative is highly effective: Eden’s time on Jackie’s farm is dirty, wretched, and dangerous, though she maintains her cool under pressure, even when she must keep her darker proclivities in check; Frank, who resents Eden for having recently saved his life, is still reeling from a lover’s death; and revelations about Hades’s tragic past demonstrate that love takes many forms and motivations are complicated. Fox keeps her characters firmly in shades of gray, and it’s their complexity that drives this riveting thriller, right through to the gruesome, surprising finale. Agent: Gaby Naher, Naher Agency (Australia).

Starred review from August 1, 2015

Australian author Fox returns with another grim, gritty, fast-paced entry in the series featuring homicide detectives Frank Bennett and Eden Archer (after Hades). Frank and Eden are focused on a case involving three missing women whose only shared connection is a farm where miscreants go to hide. To track them down and determine who is responsible for their disappearance, Eden goes undercover as a runaway wife looking for refuge from an abusive ex-husband. While she gathers information and protects herself from the ire of resident degenerates, Frank keeps track of surveillance from the outside while also conducting his own investigation into another missing woman for Eden's crime lord father, Hades. VERDICT With multiple story lines and viewpoints, there is a lot to follow here, but each character adds depth and interest to an already absorbing plotline. Readers of the first installment will be especially interested to learn who and what made Hades the violent man he is today. Fox fantastically builds on her previous book, leaving a cliff-hanger that will have readers clamoring for the next series title.--Madeline Dahlman, Deerfield P.L., IL

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