In the Dark

Starred review from February 2, 2009
Edgar-finalist Freeman's fourth thriller to feature Duluth, Minn., police lieutenant Jonathan Stride (after Stalked
) may be his most ambitious—and accomplished—work to date. As the title suggests, even those involved in the closest relationships can be kept in the dark about a loved one's past. When a woman shows up in town and informs Stride that she's writing a book about the 30-year-old mystery surrounding the murder of the older sister of the girl who grew up to become Stride's spouse, he's forced to re-examine the validity of his bond with not only his late wife, Cindy, who died of cancer five years earlier, but also that involving his current love interest, a former Vegas cop turned PI, Serena Dial. Powered by darkly poetic atmospherics and deep character development (especially Stride, whose understated intensity, dignity and resilience are emblematic of the Twin Ports area itself), this harrowing and heartrending novel will leave readers guessing until the very last pages. Author tour.

April 1, 2009
Eighteen-year-old Laura Starr was beaten to death the night of July 4, 1977. Her killer was believed to be a transient who got away. Thirty years later, Jonathan Stride ("Immoral; Stripped; Stalked"), the head of the Major Crimes department in Duluth, MN, finds that everything he thinks he knows about the case is not quite true when a friend of his late wife comes home to write a book about the murder. As alternating chapters excerpt the proposed book and follow the current-day story, Freeman builds a suspenseful tale of terror and secrets kept too long. [See Prepub Mystery, "LJ" 12/08.]

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from February 1, 2009
In the summer following his junior year in high school (and long before he became a detective), Minnesotan Jonathan Stride fell in love with Cindy Starr. But in the midst of their bliss, Cindys sister, Laura, was brutally killed in the woods near their suburban Duluth home. Police pointed the finger at a local drifter, but both Jonathan and Cindy believed the killer was someone Laura knew. A lot has happened in the 30 years since. Cindy succumbed to cancer, and Jonathan found peace with a new romantic partner, former Las Vegas PI Serena Dial. When Cindys high-school friend Tish returns to town with news that shes writing a book about Lauras death, Jonathan wants more than anything to let the past remain the past, but Tishs presence prompts him to reconsider the caseand the possibility that a local citizen may have gotten away with murder. Freemans latest spine chiller (after Stalked, 2008) boasts intense suspense, clever plot twists and characters capable of every sort of evil. The good guys are gratifying to watch here, too, from shrewd and vulnerable Stride to his detective partner, Maggie Bei, whos, smart, sassy, and wry. Macavity Award winner and Edgar finalist Freeman has the goodsand hes getting better with every book.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)