Just Jennifer

Loyalty by Ingrid Thoft (Putnam, June 2013)

Fina Ludlow is the youngest and only daughter, in a family of high-powered Boston attorneys.  After flunking out of law school, Fina got her PIs license and finds she enjoys that part of the law business much more than litigation; she has got the looks to charm men from low level thugs to high level cops but has the nerve, and good shot, to hold her own in any situation.  Fina’s sister-in-law Melanie doesn’t come home one night and Rand asks Fina to find where his wife went, thinking she is sulking at a spa or over some designer shopping.  When Melanie turns up no traces of the woman, and Melanie’s best friend Risa also hasn’t heard from her in days, Fina becomes concerned: first for Melanie’s safety, and secondly that Rand has done something to his wife.  Using some of her less than upstanding contacts, Fina starts asking questions as to the whereabouts of her sister-in-law and quickly finds herself on the receiving end of a beating and accident on the Mass Pike designed to kill.  The closer Fina looks, the more she realizes that every family has secrets, but will her family stop at nothing to keep them hidden? Even hurting Fina?  Edgy with a feminine side, Fina is a welcomed addition to the growing ranks of female PIs.  The complicated plot will keep readers guessing as they untangle the strands that have become the life of Rand Ludlow, and by association, his sister’s life as well.  The narrative is well-paced and doesn’t stop until the last page.