Author: Evan Marshall
Genre: Mystery
Hardcover; Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781575664200; 9781977073105
Kensington Publishing; Independent
271 Pages
Various Prices; $2.99 Amazon
June 1, 1999
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The last thing literary agent and widowed single mom Jane Stuart needs on a busy day is a call from her son Nick's school saying his nanny Marlene never showed up at the end of the day to pick him up. That's odd, thinks Jane. The pretty blonde, daughter of an old friend of Jane's, had always been reliable before and a great nanny to boot. Jane feels a sense of obligation to her old friend and calls Ivy. Truth be told, Ivy was the reason she hired Marlene in the first place.
But Ivy has no idea where Marlene is. Jane wonders. If something's happened to Marlene, she should notify the police. But when she does, the police figure Marlene has run away. No one else cares.
What happened to Marlene? Never one to settle, Jane starts to snoop.
Juggling book deals, rival agents, and a rocky romance with an author too handsome for his own good, Jane uncovers that Marlene had a secret life -- including some erotic videos, a boyfriend with violent tendencies (as well as a police record), and an off-again, on-again flirtation with a mystery man. Jane finds out nothing about him, which makes her want to track him even more.
But it's Jane's trusted tortie Winky who uncovers the critical clue. It is the last key which makes all the puzzle pieces fit. As Jane and Winky get to the bottom of who the real killer is, they try desperately to get the police to make their move before the killer strikes again -- this time, with Jane as the next victim.
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Jane Stuart is a struggling literary agent -- ever since her husband Kenneth died, most of his clients have gone elsewhere. Still, it's what she knows, and she has a nine-year-old son to support. With the help of her assistant Daniel Willoughby, she plans to keep her agency running. She also has a nanny for her son Nick, but when she receives a call from his school that Marlene hasn't picked him up, she's at first angry.
When she gets Nick and goes home, she finds that all Marlene's belongings are gone. Now she wants to know why Marlene just left without notice, and calls Ivy, Marlene's mother. The two of them have no idea where she went, and Jane feels it's her duty to locate the young woman. But it isn't going to be easy, since Marlene is nineteen and a legal adult, and no one is giving her definite answers.
Still, Jane keeps on digging, and what she finds greatly disturbs her. Was Marlene ever what she claimed to be? And how far does Jane have to go to find out what happened to her?...
This is an older book, and the first in the series. I believe I read this years ago, but sometimes it's nice to go back to the past and give these books a second go-round. This time I am glad that I did. The book was written well, and even though I thought that Jane had gone above and beyond looking for Marlene and answers, I understand that she has an innate curiosity about her and wanted to know the truth.
I did feel that Ivy blaming Jane for her daughter's disappearance was over the top. Ivy should have kept track of her own child and not expected Jane to be a babysitter. After all, wasn't that what Jane hired Marlene for? You'd think a nanny would be responsible, but oh, well.
I didn't care for some of the secondary characters, not even Laura, whom I felt should have allowed Daniel to find his own path and be supportive of his choices; I didn't care for Roger (who would?); but I did sort of like Detective Greenberg, and of course Jane, Nick, and Florence. These are characters I won't mind revisiting in future books.
When the ending comes and the murderer is revealed, it is more complicated than anyone could have imagined, and well worth waiting for. It comes together nicely in a believable package, and leaves us wanting to read the next in the series. Recommended.
More on Evan Marshall's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/evan-marshall/
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