Taken by the Wind

August 19, 2013
In Lambda Literary Award–winner Hart’s absorbing 21st mystery featuring Minneapolis, Minn., PI and restaurateur Jane Lawless (after 2012’s Rest for the Wicked), Jane’s friend Andrew Waltz enlists her help when his 12-year-old son, Jack Lindstrom, and his nephew, Gabriel Born (also 12), go missing on an overnight camping trip. Meanwhile, Andrew and his estranged partner, Eric Lindstrom, must deal with antigay prejudice. Conservatives in the congregation of Suzanne Born, Gabriel’s minister mother, don’t exactly welcome diversity in their church. Soon a ransom demand arrives for $100,000, and Jane faces unpleasant choices in obtaining the money and in sorting out the roles of potential suspects, who include a local science teacher under pressure for refusing to teach intelligent design. Some unexpected twists and turns, as well as the uncertainties of Jane’s love life and the activities of her irrepressible best friend, Cordelia Thorn (a treasure of mystery fiction), will keep the reader guessing. Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider Literary.

September 15, 2013
The case of two missing boys forces a community to face the possibility that they may be gone for good. When they decided to take some time from their marriage, Eric and Andrew still tried to make sure their teenage son Jack wasn't traumatized by their escalating domestic drama. The two are both shocked, then, when Jack and his cousin Gabriel go missing after a backyard sleepover and even more surprised when the police suggest that the two boys may have run away rather than been kidnapped. When this theory stalls the investigation, the former couple turns to their friend, restaurateur and newly licensed investigator Jane Lawless (Rest For the Wicked, 2012, etc.), to pick up the slack. Jane revisits the last place the boys were seen in hopes of turning up evidence, but she's no more inspired than the police. Her personal life has become equally enigmatic since Avi, her latest flame, has put Jane in the unaccustomed position of being more interested in the relationship than her partner. Things get even more complicated when Jane's ex, Dr. Julia Martinsen, shows up. Julia's never been the most stable personality, and now she has her eyes set on meddling in Jane's otherwise happy relationship. A judicious balance of long-term development and short-term storytelling; even readers who come for the ongoing characters will stay for the mystery.

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October 1, 2013

The 21st case (after Rest for the Wicked) in a long-standing and much-lauded Lambda Literary Award-winning series finds PI Jane vowing to find two runaway teen boys, secretly worrying that they might have been abducted. Meanwhile, her personal and business relationships continue to be a challenge.

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2013
Lesbian sleuth Jane Lawless confronts one of her most frightening situations: children gone missing. Seamlessly integrating enough backstory to orient readers new to the series, Hart also quickly establishes restaurateur Lawless' professional skills as a part-time PI as she deftly secures the details pertaining to the disappearance of Eric and Andrew's hot-headed, charismatic 12-year-old son, Jack, and develops a search strategy. Jack has previously masterminded risky situations with his less volatile cousin, Gabriel, who is troubled, having recently consented to genetic testing since his father died of ALS. But have the boys escalated their adventures? As the adults continue their seemingly fruitless efforts to find Jack, Hart observes that their driving around was as much about the need for movement as it was about the actual search as Jane brings her formidable skills to the fore. But will her expertise prepare her for seeing a ghost from the past? A compelling addition to Hart's always entertaining series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)