Review by Booklist Review
Justine "Jo" Bailen is a queer private investigator working in an all-woman Tucson agency. While gathering the necessary information on a cheating spouse, she gets a message that her childhood friend Rose is missing, and Rose's mother wants Jo to find her. Jo had not been in touch with Rose, who teaches creative writing and plays in an all-female rock band, for years because Rose thought that Jo stole her boyfriend. Despite her better judgment and an obvious conflict of interest, Jo decides to investigate. The fact that the police detective assigned to the case, Tyler, is the boyfriend in question further muddies the situation. As Jo and Tyler work on the case, Rose's complicated personal life and twisted family history emerge. Jo must face demons from her past to save her life as she closes in on the truth. Fans of action-packed mysteries with strong female detectives, like Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone, will enjoy this series starter.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this accomplished if underheated series launch from Graves (a pseudonym for Welcome Home, Stranger author Kate Christensen), Arizona private eye Justine "Jo" Bailen navigates a looming midlife crisis while digging into the disappearance of her estranged childhood best friend, Rose Delaney. While staking out an infidelity case brought to her all-female detective agency, Jo learns that Rose has gone missing; soon, Rose's mother, Laura, hires Jo to investigate. The inquiry takes Jo back to Delphi, the artists' colony north of Tucson where she and Rose grew up. Returning home brings Jo face to face with decades-old traumas, including her distant relationship with her mother and the love triangle involving Jo's high school boyfriend, Tyler, that destroyed her and Rose's friendship--which becomes especially pertinent when Tyler, now a police officer, gets assigned to Rose's case. Graves skillfully depicts the flawed utopia of her desert setting and wrings affecting insights from Jo's struggles with aging, but the core mystery never totally takes flight. For genre readers more interested in character and atmosphere than plot, however, Graves's dazzling prose and well-drawn heroine make this well worth seeking out. Agent: Richard Abate, 3 Arts Entertainment. (Oct.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
In this series starter from Graves (a.k.a. Welcome Home, Stranger author Kate Christensen), ecological despoilment and emotional trauma are entangled in a case that leads back to teen secrets. Jo Bailen works for an all-women private detective agency based in Tucson, AZ. She's just finishing a case when her boss sends her back into her own past: Delphi, where Laura Gold is afraid for her missing daughter, Rose Delaney. Rose and Jo were childhood best friends, but they've been estranged since age 14. Laura believes that only Jo can find Rose, who's been gone for two days. Jo follows the police to the site where Rose's body has been found hanging from a tree, and police officer Tyler Bridgewater is vomiting. It was Rose, Jo, and Tyler's triangular relationship that caused their teen trauma and estrangement. Now, 26 years later, Tyler's involvement in investigating Rose's death raises Jo's suspicions. She thinks Rose tried to prevent a land scam that affected a local artists' community, which might have led to her murder. VERDICT This desert noir features complex characters trapped in an ugly, emotional past. The vivid details and beauty of the Arizona landscape are in sharp contrast to the repellent secrets of a killer.--Lesa Holstine
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