Jan Burke, Kidnapped

Kidnapped

Jan Burke

Simon & Schuster, October 2006, $24.00, 366 pp.

ISBN: 07432753850

Five years ago Richard Fletcher was murdered, his head bashed in to disguise a bullet wound, and his daughter Jenny disappeared. Jenny's brother Mason was found in the desert with drugs in his system, and the murder weapon and bloody clothes in the back of his car. He was tried and convicted for the murder of his father and the kidnapping of Jenny. He was given life without parole, but his brother Caleb believes his sibling is innocent. His mother remarries Richard's brother Nelson, who has loved her for a lifetime.

In the present, Las Piernas News Express reporter Irene Kelley has written a story on missing children. She receives a multitude of calls from grieving parents, including a heartbreaking one from Blade Ives who was married to former Express reporter Bonnie Crews. She also covers the story of a body being found by a cadaver dog belong to Sheila Polson, another Fletcher. When Irene visits Sheila at her home, she finds her murdered and sees a car driving away. As Irene tries to connect the dots that link the murders of Shelia and Richard, Jenny's disappearance and the buried body, her life is in danger from someone who will kill to keep certain secrets buried.

Anytime Jan Burke writes an Irene Kelly mystery it is a time for rejoicing. Ms. Burk's novels continual back and forth moves from the third person point of view to the first should be jolting, but instead, seems effortless as readers don't notice, due in part to the author's creative style. Great characterizations, unexpected twists and plenty of surprises pull the audience deep into the storyline, and keep them there until they finish the book. Kidnapped is a fascinating work, deserving of an Edgar nomination.