Thank you Netgalley for this advance copy.
I’ve been hearing about Lisa Gardner for ages. She’s been on my TBR for a while. I even own some of her books, but I’ve never gotten around to reading them. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher letting me have this book, she’s moved to the top of my “must-read” list. Holy smokes, this book was excellent. If you haven’t read any of her books, this one will be a great place to start.
From Goodreads: Frankie Elkin is an average middle-aged woman, a recovering alcoholic with more regrets than belongings. But she spends her life doing what no one else will–searching for missing people the world has stopped looking for. When the police have given up, when the public no longer remembers, when the media has never paid attention, Frankie starts looking.
A new case brings her to Mattapan, a Boston neighborhood with a rough reputation. She is searching for Angelique Badeau, a Haitian teenager who vanished from her high school months earlier. Resistance from the Boston PD and the victim’s wary family tells Frankie she’s on her own–and she soon learns she’s asking questions someone doesn’t want to be answered. But Frankie will stop at nothing to discover the truth, even if it means the next person to go missing could be her.
First of all, Frankie is awesome. She’s funny and can stand her ground and is passionate about helping people. She makes no apologies for being an alcoholic and doesn’t use it as an excuse but as motivation. Her charm makes her friends, even when she’s an outsider in every way. The plot itself was tightly-written with no annoying tropes. It’s easy to root for Frankie, even if she’s not perfect. She’s a realistic character, which is endearing. The storyline was clever and left me guessing until the end. When this one comes out in January, make a point to grab it.
Pleasant Nights 