The Evidence Room

April 6, 2015
Aurora Atchison, the heroine of Harvey’s predictable first novel, was found at age four on the steps of the minimart in Cooper’s Bayou, Fla., in the early morning of July 17, 1989. When the strangled body of her mother turned up soon after in a nearby bayou, everyone assumed that Aurora’s father killed his wife and disappeared. Aurora later left with her mother’s parents to start a new life in Connecticut. Now a nurse, Aurora returns to Cooper’s Bayou to settle her grandfather’s estate. Treated like royalty by townspeople who all seem to have revered her mother, Aurora befriends Det. Josh Hudson, whose childhood is equally marred by tragedy (his younger brother disappeared, the apparent victim of a serial killer; his older sister ran away at 18). Seeking answers related to her mother’s murder, Aurora becomes aware that the case is not as cut-and-dried as it appears. As her investigation gathers steam, sleazy Floridian characters emerge from the swamp to block her way. But with a less than original premise and a lead who’s frustratingly weak-willed, this mystery fizzles.

April 1, 2015
A Florida police officer and a nurse tackle a cold case. Josh Hudson, a police officer in the sleepy town of Cooper's Bayou, lives with the horror of his brother's abduction and murder by a serial killer. Josh's father, a petty criminal, is in jail, and his sister has gone AWOL. When an undercover drug job leads him to a woman who claims to know where his sister is living, he lets her off and even pays her for information he never gets. Naturally, his actions get him into trouble, and he's taken off active duty and sent to work at the Cooper County Evidence Room. Aurora Atchison has an equally painful connection to Cooper's Bayou: when she was very young, her father murdered her mother. Wade Atchison was never caught, and Aurora's grandparents raised her in faraway Connecticut, where she became a nurse. Now that her grandfather's died and left her a house on the bayou, she returns to settle the estate. Aurora's unanswered questions about her mother's case lead her to the evidence room and Josh, who understands her need to get at the truth. The current coroner, reviewing the case, finds that Wade could not have been Raylene Atchison's killer. So Aurora and Josh look for answers in boxes of evidence and interviews with townspeople. Soon the threats Aurora begins to get make it obvious that someone thinks they're getting too close to the truth. A promising debut whose ending doesn't quite live up to the rest of the story.

May 1, 2015

Aurora Atkinson returns to Cooper's Bayou after her grandfather's death to settle his estate. She left Florida after her father murdered her mother, and was raised by her grandparents. Josh Hudson is an up-and-coming star in the police department until the day he makes a deal with a suspect in a narcotics case in return for assistance finding his missing sister. That misstep gets him busted down to working in the Evidence Room. The dusty files there may hold the key to finding the person who really killed Aurora's mother. Secrets and lies will float to the surface as Josh and Aurora investigate. VERDICT This moody and atmospheric debut will thrill readers of Lori Roy, John Hart, and Steve Hamilton. [Library marketing.]

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