Gone in the night

Private eye Annalisa Vega and her on-again husband, Det. Nick Carelli, go up against the vigilante who's evidently hellbent on eliminating every abusive man in Chicago. Joe Green, a fellow inmate of Annalisa's brother Alex, the Lovelorn Killer she put away, was convicted of murdering attorney Cyrus Merriman 13 years ago on the testimony of Gwen Beaufort, who saw him at the crime scene while she was walking her dog. But he still swears he's innocent, and Alex wants his pregnant sister to help him. Even though Annalisa is skeptical, she works so efficiently to poke holes in the story of Gwen, who's never even owned a dog, and to connect Cyrus' death to that of several other victims found with the same Berkanan rune stabbed into their bodies, that he's released with an apology. Evidently somebody isn't satisfied, though, for three days later Joe's body is found in Lake Michigan, just like the others before him--but this time without that telltale rune. Further investigation links the murders to Ruby's Place, a shelter for abused women, and the kidnapping of Eve Collier, a child who disappeared from the 1986 Chicago Christmas parade. Annalisa and Nick work tirelessly, sometimes together, sometimes at odds with each other, to figure out which of the staunch-hearted stalwarts associated with Ruby's Place is actually a serial killer. Annalisa will have to solve both this compellingly complex mystery and the unrelated and much less interesting case of the valuable engagement ring that elderly widow Effie Christos has reported missing before she'll be free to deliver that baby. The unearthed tale of revenge served cold is more satisfying than the story of its discovery. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.