So several weeks ago I was browsing the list of Mystery and Thriller Books in the Amazon Kindle store and came across Book 1 in the Laura Cardinal series Darkness on the Edge of Town by J Carson Black. The author and series were new to me but the price was right 99 cents. So having money left from the gift card Peter gave me for Father’s Day, I quickly made the purchase. What I found was a terrific read (Book 22 for 2011) and another series to follow (like I need another!) The series features Laura Cardinal a top investigator in the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) stationed in Tuscon. From Goodreads.com………
When Arizona DPS investigator Laura Cardinal is sent to Bisbee, Arizona, to investigate the murder of a fourteen-year-old girl found in the park band shell, she knows immediately what she’s up against: a cunning sexual predator. But why is she plagued by the abduction of a schoolmate eighteen years earlier? In a runaway case that propels Laura from a lavish Tucson estate to the secretive heart of a north Florida town, she must confront the ghosts of her own past. Then another child goes missing–and Laura must race the clock to find her!
I really liked this book. I enjoyed the character of Laura Cardinal – tough when she needs to be but displaying a tender side, too. I thought the story line moved along well and kept the book consistently interesting. Sometimes early in the book things were a little confusing and I found myself saying who? what? But as the book progressed things became clearer. I’m not sure what I think of the ghostly specter of Frank Endicott, who visits Laura! But I do know I’ll go back to Tuscon for another visit!