Vanished in the Night-Eileen Carr

Vanished in the Night
Eileen Carr
Pocket, Jul 26 2011, $7.99
ISBN: 9781439183878

Due to her hot tempered father George, Veronica Osborne wants nothing to do with cops having spent her life bailing out her dad. However, she cannot ignore Sacramento Police Sergeant Zach McKnight and his partner Frank Rodriguez when they knock on her door. Zach informs her that at a construction site a corpse identified as her half-brother Max Sheldon who vanished two decades ago was found. All these years, she prayed he would come home only to learn now he was murdered and had not deserted her.

The site foreman insisted the body was not there when they went home for the night, but was there when they returned the next morning. However the jersey the victim wore was a throwback to 1989 as the cops know the case is “arctic”. The police suspect Veronica’s dad killed his stepson in a fit of rage. Unable to sit idly by, Veronica investigates her sibling’s homicide. What she learns stuns her while someone is killing those who may know the truth and someone else is pushing for full exposure. Zach vows to keep Veronica safe from both sides who tug at her as much as she tugs at his heart.

Vanished in the Night is an exciting investigative thriller. The story line is an extended troubled family affair as the cops tepidly investigate a frozen tundra case until a second homicide occurs and Zach, attracted to Veronica, fears her inquiry could harm her. The freshness comes from the two adversaries whose interests in Sheldon’s murder are totally opposite of each other. Readers will want to know their motives and the link between deaths a decade apart as Eileen Carr provides an engaging whodunit.

Harriet Klausner