Ghost Image

January 19, 2015
Early in Crosby’s intriguing second Sophie Medina mystery (after 2013’s Multiple Exposure), the Washington, D.C., photojournalist learns from her friend Brother Kevin Boyle, a Franciscan friar and environmental scientist, that he’s on to something big related to a conference he recently attended at London’s Kew Gardens. When Sophie finds Kevin lying dead in the grotto of his monastery garden, she suspects foul play. A rare book sets Sophie on the trail of a killer that will lead her to London and back again—and a lost treasure that may have important implications in current medicine. Big names such as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Lewis and Clark are thrown around in the course of Sophie’s investigation, but readers looking for a fast pace should look elsewhere. The danger to Sophie never really inspires terror, but her voice is compelling enough to carry the story, even though readers will likely figure out whodunit early in the game. Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary Agency.

March 1, 2015

As a freelance photojournalist, Sophie Medina gets the chance to hobnob with some of the biggest players in Washington, DC, from the safety of behind her camera. But when she stumbles upon the body of her friend, Br. Kevin Boyle, at his Franciscan monastery, the story hits closer to home. Already thrust unwillingly into the public eye as the wedding photographer for a senator's daughter and an Austrian nobleman, Sophie discovers an even bigger secret when, while sorting through Kevin's effects, she finds an antique botany book that her friend, a vocal environmental advocate, had recently acquired. The book and its treasure map-like contents ensnare Sophie in a dangerous game that takes her from the archives at the Smithsonian to the vast underground Seed Bank outside of London, all while trying to outrun a shadowy group that wants to obtain the book and won't think twice about killing--again--to get it. VERDICT First introduced in 2013's Multiple Exposure, Sophie is a tough, relatable heroine, and with her unconventional job--not to mention her ex-spy husband--this makes for a breezy read with just the right amount of thrills.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2015
The death of Franciscan Brother Kevin Boyle is no accident, as far as photojournalist Sophie Medina is concerned. Even though she knew her dear friend was a controversial environmentalist who had made enemies, she suspects he was murdered because of the secret project he had alluded to when he told her just hours earlier that recently someone had been following him. So Sophie starts searching, finding in Boyle's locker at the Smithsonian Institutiona very old and valuable botanical book that someone else also is after. As her list of potential suspects lengthens, the danger also rises, leading to a near-deadly situation at an English seed bank, another murder, and an attempted setup in London. In this second Sophie Medina mystery (after Multiple Exposure, 2013), the plucky protagonist travels between her native Washington, D.C., and London, where she lived for years. Somewhat short on suspense, but still a solid, scenic mystery by the author of the Virginia Wine Country series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)