HER DYING SECRET

A car crash raises terrifying implications in the latest installment of the Josie Quinn mystery series.

Despite living in a small city in Central Pennsylvania, Det. Josie Quinn can’t seem to even take a day off without a gruesome crime scene needing her attention. She and her husband, Noah, a fellow detective, are hoping to adopt and trying to ready the house for a home visit from an adoption agency when Josie gets called in to the scene of an unusual car wreck. Josie quickly sees something even more gruesome than a head-on collision—evidence that the two women in the mangled car were involved in an intense, bloody struggle before the accident. The driver is barely clinging to life, and the other woman has a defensive stab wound and a knife stuck in her abdomen. The only clue to what happened to the women is a single piece of paper, a child’s drawing with the chilling word “HELP” scribbled on the back. When the driver, Mira Summers, wakes up, all she can remember is riding horses at the Tranquil Trails stables that morning, but she has no recollection of the attack or the Jane Doe riding in her car. With the help of her trusted colleague, Gretchen Palmer, Josie quickly discovers that the family running Tranquil Trails has anything but tranquil secrets; the owner warns them that she believes her disturbed brother-in-law may have been capable of such an attack. At the same time, Josie begins to question whether Mira’s selective amnesia is a ruse to cover up vital information. As both detectives race against time to piece together what happened and to save a child who may be in grave danger, they are drawn into a complex family drama that offers no simple answers.

Building on previous episodes in the series, Regan’s Josie Quinn remains a remarkable, strong protagonist. (At the site of the particularly grisly car wreck scene, Josie showcases her ability to squash visceral reactions in favor of getting her job done, remarking only, “It’s not what I expected.”) Josie’s husband, Noah, is again a reliable partner. But the more exciting pair is Josie and Gretchen. Through them, Regan creates a formidable duo that won’t take any nonsense as they rush to save a young child in danger. As they stumble deeper into an intricate family drama, Regan also smartly turns her lead character’s anxieties about adoption and parenthood into concrete aspects of the case she is trying to solve. Astute mystery readers may see where the investigation is going from a mile away, but there are plenty of suspenseful surprises and action-packed sequences before the final reveals. Also adding to the tension are some chilling scenes showing the young child in question, who’s watching their captor and waiting for rescue. “It reminds me of the blood,” the child thinks, seeing people move in a shadowy room, “Whose blood?The whisper is back.” It’s a chilling and effective addition to help keep this twisted mystery moving.

Strong female protagonists and an intelligent, creepy setup make this mystery installment memorable.