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| Series: An Evie Blackwell Cold Case # 2 Genre: Mystery/Suspense Publisher: Bethany House Released: May 2, 2017 432 pages |
Evie Blackwell's reputation as a top investigator for the Illinois State Police has landed her an appointment to the governor's new Missing Persons Task Force. This elite investigative team is launched with plenty of public fanfare. The governor has made this initiative a high priority, so they will have to produce results--and quickly.
Evie and her new partner, David Marshal, are assigned to a pair of unrelated cases in suburban Chicago, and while both involve persons now missing for several years, the cases couldn't be more different. While Evie opens old wounds in a close-knit neighborhood to find a missing college student, David searches for a private investigator working for a high-powered client.
With a deep conviction that "justice for all" truly matters, Evie and David are unrelenting in their search for the truth. But Evie must also find answers to the questions that lie just beneath the surface in her personal life.
“Sometimes love comes easily, and sometimes it’s the most challenging decision a person ever makes.”
I have mixed feelings on this story. I found it moved slowly and was bogged down with lots of details and theories for the cases but I also couldn’t put it down. Expect it wasn’t the cases that kept me in the story it was the characters personal lives that I cared the most about. We finally get to meet Evie’s Rob and experience the two together, it’s clear that Rob loves her for who she is but Evie is still unsure about marriage. The other major player in the story is David, a detective working with Evie on the task force. He is also in a relationship that’s not moving forward due to a difference in beliefs between himself and his fiancée, Maggie. I really liked David and his willingness to give Maggie the time she needs to figure out her feelings about God. However at the end there is no change in either couple’s relationships. I was hoping for some sort of resolution.
“If they were right, if it was true, she was standing on the sidelines of one of the greatest unfolding miracles in human history, and she was missing out.”
In respect to the mystery itself, David and Evie are working on two separate missing person cases that seem to not only intersect with each other but then take a personal turn for David. There were so many details and people that trying to keep everything straight was a bit overwhelming at times. David’s case gets solved which enables them to really focus on Evie’s case and the personal thread. After following many threads they eventually have a strong lead to follow, but can they catch him before someone else gets hurt? The ending seemed unsatisfying to me as once again there is really no justice served, just answers to what happened. Also the changing of scenes irritated me; it would just all of sudden change with no indication making it hard to follow.
I would have given this book a higher rating if I had felt more satisfaction with the ending, but the personal relationships ended in pretty much the same state as when the book opened and there was no justice served for the cases. Also there was no clear answer given of what motivated the villain. However I am now invested in Evie’s life enough that I will be waiting for the next book in hopes to get some closure to these personal relationships.
(I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley; opinions expressed in this review are my honest opinion and completely my own.)
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