The Mystery Starts Here

Don’t you love it when you get one of those books? You know the ones I mean. The house needs cleaning, the laundry isn’t done, the dogs are waiting for a long walk and it’s time to make dinner but…you HAVE to read just one more chapter? “Ghost Image” by Joshua Gilder is one of those books.

When plastic surgery resident Dr. Jackson Maebry’s girlfriend, Allie, is brought into the ER beaten and burned almost beyond recognition, he is shocked. Trying to help in her recovery, he hides the fact that he, not only knows her, but that the two have been having a relationship. Of course this turns out to be a huge mistake.

There are so many twists and turns in this book, I often had to put it down and take a deep breath. I read a lot of mysteries and all too often figure them out fairly quickly. Not so with this book. I really didn’t discover whodunit until the end when all was revealed. It’s tightly plotted and the medical information is fascinating, if a bit icky in parts. It might be a little hard to find as the publication date is 2002, but do look around and try to get a copy. It will be will worth your effort.

I’ve checked and as far as I can tell, this is Gilder’s only book in print to date. I sure hope he’s working on another one!

Well, new to me anyhow. I went to the library and picked up “Trace Evidence” by Elizabeth Becka. What a pleasant surprise! I actually saw Ms. Becka second book, “Unknown Means” and it sounded so interesting from the blurb that I decided to get the first book in the series. Thank goodness it was sitting right there on the shelf!

Okay. Ms. Becka’s protagionist, Evie, (Evelyn) James is an expert in trace evidence. She works it the M.E.’s office in Cleveland, is divorced and has a fifteen-year-old daugher. Ms. Becka herself is an expert in trace evidence so there’s a lot of good, interesting information in the story – but no too much! I find that too often when an expert in some field decides to write a mystery, too much background comes in. Kathy Reich comes to mind. I’ve liked most of her books but have to admit to skipping pages of way too technical stuffl. Ms. Becka wisely limited the technical.

The story starts when the body of a young girl is found in the river. Someone encased her feet in cement in two buckets, tossed her in the water, (in November) and let her drown. EEEUUUU. Evie arrives at the crime scene to collect trace and is a little freaked because the body is that of a young girl – almost the same age as her daughter – with the unfortunate name of Angel. She also meets a new homicide detective and you know the two are going to get together.

Another young girl is found dead under similar circumstances but this one has ties to a man in Evie’s past. Evie and the detectives follow the clues, focus on the wrong man, (you know he can’t be guilty – there are 50 pages to go), but eventually they find the right man. The ending is breath takingly fast and all the disparate clues come together for a very satisfying conclusion.

I really enjoyed reading “Trace Evidence” and look forward to finding more of Elizabeth Becka’s books. Read this book first if you can but I’ll bet it won’t make much difference if you come in later in the series.