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A modern master of suspense, critically acclaimed author Charlie Donlea returns with a taut, gripping novel about the deadly secrets hiding in plain sight . . .
The truth is easy to miss, even when it’s right in front of us. As a forensic reconstructionist, Rory Moore sheds light on cold-case homicides by piecing together crime scene details others fail to see. Cleaning out her late father’s law office a week after his burial, she receives a call that plunges her into a decades-old case come to life once more.
In the summer of 1979, five Chicago women went missing. The predator, nicknamed The Thief, left no bodies and no clues behind—until police received a package from a mysterious woman named Angela Mitchell, whose unorthodox investigation skills appear to have led to his identity. But before police could question her, Angela disappeared. Forty years later, The Thief is about to be paroled for Angela’s murder—the only crime the DA could pin on him. As a former client of her father’s, Rory becomes reluctantly involved with the killer—though he continues to insist he didn’t murder Angela. Now he wants Rory to do what her father once promised: prove that Angela is, in fact, still alive.
As Rory begins reconstructing Angela’s last days, another killer emerges from the shadows, replicating those long-ago murders. With every startling discovery she makes, Rory becomes more deeply entangled in the enigma of Angela Mitchell—and in The Thief’s tormented mind. Drawing connections between past and present is the only way to stop the nightmare, but even Rory can’t be prepared for the full, terrifying truth that is emerging . . .
This is the second book of Charlie Donlea’s that I’ve read and I don’t know why I hadn’t read any of his prior. I definitely have to thank Kensington for introducing me to his books and for sponsoring the giveaway from which I obtained both. This one definitely had a creep factor that wasn’t present in “Don’t Believe It” as it involved a serial killer-which of course totally brings it into my wheelhouse as a fan of true crime. (Actually, should I even admit that? I promise I’m not a complete weirdo!)
Rory Moore specializes in the art of forensic reconstruction, using her skills to solve cases that others have given up on or been unable to solve themselves. She has just taken on a new case of a local woman found dead in a park when her lawyer father passes away, leaving her to handle all of his active and pending cases and have them transferred to other lawyers. Rory is also a lawyer but as she is on the spectrum, arguing cases in open court has never appealed to her. But as his practice was a one-man firm and while she wasn’t a partner, she was also involved on paper with the firm so the responsibility. She soon finds herself trapped with a single case; that of the man known as The Thief, a possible serial killer from the 70s though this could never be proven. He was convicted only of the of the murder of a single woman, and is scheduled to be released on parole after 40 years of time served.
However Rory is not the only female protagonist involved with the case of The Thief. The story alternates between her investigation in 2019 and that of Angela Mitchell in 1979. Angela is also autistic but she is gifted with ability to remember everything she sees. When she focuses her attention on a number of missing women in the Chicago area linked to The Thief, she soons finds herself the target of the murderer. Can she find the suspect before he finds her first?
The eventual conclusion to the book and how the 2 different narratives are interconnected is stunning. The author does a great job of muddying the waters, yet after I finished I could go back and see all the clues that were woven into the story and was kind of mad I hadn’t figured it out earlier! I would highly recommend this book to those who don’t mind a darker storyline and my fellow true crime buffs and murderinos!