Saturday Afternoon Reading: Reviewing Gone Without A Trace

I could hardly put this book down. I love suspense novels and in my opinion award winning author Patricia Bradley can write a plot that is unpredictable. Gone Without a Trace is no exception. The story is book three in the Logan Lake series and includes characters from Promise To Protect and Shadows of the Past. 

Livy Reynolds, a homicide detective from Memphis is taking a little time off after a shooting incident.  Enter handsome  Dallas Private Investigator Alex Jennings and you do have some predictable sparks of romance. That is where the predictability stops.

Alex is searching for the granddaughter of a Texas State Senator and Livy believes there are similarities between the case of Samantha Jo Woodson and the sudden disappearance of her cousin Robyn two years ago.  Both cases involve waitresses working in diners. In both cases, the victims are warned to quit their jobs from cryptic notes. The two are joined together in the hunt to find similarities to these cases and other cold cases that involve waitresses who left without a trace.

So many things run through my mind in a mystery, like trying to figure out who the perpetrator is and remembering clues that lead to solving the case. Patricia is particularly good at developing complex plots that keep me on the edge of my seat. This book is for the reader who likes complex characters and a plot that thickens right up to the end.

I recommend this book to you and I guarantee that one quick look on page one and you will be flipping to page two as though you were reeled into the story.

A Promise To Protect is One Book to Read!

What happens when a man encounters the one woman he can't get out of his mind suddenly becomes an unwilling victim he is sworn to protect? When Acting Sheriff Ben Logan gets  a call from Dr. Leigh Somerall his life is turned upside down and into a nightmare that he fights to wake up from.  Promise To Protect by Patricia Bradley is a book I have no hesitation to recommend.

Ben agrees to meet Leigh's brother Tony Jackson at a Memphis hotel only to find him on the floor dying from a gunshot wound. In his last breath, Tony asks Ben to protect Leigh. Protect her from what? Tony had information for Ben about a crime he stumbled onto. He also had information on who shot Ben's dad, Sheriff Tom Logan. Tom was still recuperating at home after suffering from a stroke after his accident. The case is still  unsolved. Now this murder and the need to find Leigh and tell her that her only living relative has been killed.

The last person Leigh Somerall wanted to see is Ben Logan. She loved him ten years ago but abruptly left town without telling him why. Only Ben's father Tom knows the reason. She returned to Logan Point with her son T.J. only to fulfill a contract at Bradford General Hospital that would pay off her student loan.  She and her son lived with her brother at the home of her late grandmother. The home she lived in as a girl after her parents both died.

Ben let her know about Tony's wish for her to be protected but she balked at the idea until the house catches fire and someone takes a shot at them in the morning. Unwittingly, she is the target of someone who believes she has something Tony was hiding. As the story goes on, more threats and attempts are made on her life and the life of her son.

Why is Leigh a target and why do they think she has what they are looking for?  She has a secret of her own and wants the case solved so she can remove her son from Logan Point. Along the way other hidden crimes are discovered that link together the truth. The characters are engaging and Patricia Bradley is a master story teller of suspense and action. I stayed up way too late to finish this book but it was worth it. To solve the mystery, pick up a copy and read this book!