Deceit

June 28, 2010
Fans of Collins and her trademarked "Seatbelt Suspense" will find her usual blend of good storytelling and notable mystery in this standalone tale of murder and suspicion wrapped in a cloak of deceit. Joanne Weeks is a skip tracer-someone who looks for deadbeats, a profession worth reading the book to learn more about-and knows that Baxter Jackson killed his wife, who was Joanne's best friend. The investigation stalls until Jackson's second wife turns up dead and frightening events begin to unfold in Joanne's life. Who is the man who jumps in front of her car on a rainy night? Why is he urging her to find Melissa Harkoff, a foster child long gone from the scene? Did someone break into Joanne's home? What does the Jacksons' foster daughter know about Linda Jackson's murder? Collins provides an enticing read while posing tough questions about truth and lies, power and control, faith and forgiveness. This will cause readers to look for the deceit in their own lives, and give them a fine summer read.

July 1, 2010
Six years ago Joanne Weeks best friend mysteriously disappeared, later to be declared dead. Her husband, a bigwig in the California town of Vonita, remarried, and now his second wife has died in an unlikely accident. Joanne, a skip tracer by trade, is convinced that Baxter Jackson murdered both his wives, maybe to collect on the insurance, maybe for other reasons. One thing shes sure of: if she intends to prove the man is a murderer, shell need to find someone who saw something important, six years ago. The author is known for fiction that blends mystery with Christian themes (and for not hitting the reader over the head with the latter: its there, but its subtle). Here her primary focus is the mystery, and it's solidly constructed. Joanne is a strong and immediately likable protagonist, and the books ending leaves plenty of room for a sequel, which wouldnt be a bad idea at all.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)