cover image DEPTHS OF SOLITUDE: A Brodie Farrell Mystery

DEPTHS OF SOLITUDE: A Brodie Farrell Mystery

Jo Bannister, . . St. Martin's Minotaur, $23.95 (272pp) ISBN 978-0-312-33712-4

At the start of Irish author Bannister's suspenseful fourth novel to feature beautiful, fiercely independent Brodie Farrell (after 2003's Reflections ), Brodie tries to contact her friend Daniel Hood, with whom she's been out of touch for weeks. When she finds a "for sale" sign on his house and no immediate clues as to where he went, she turns for help to formidable Det. Supt. Jack Deacon of the Dimmock (U.K.) police. The three had been close, but in a life-or-death crisis Daniel made a decision Brodie couldn't accept, and he subsequently disappeared. After a large chunk of cement is hurled through Brodie's windshield while she's driving through a dangerous area on assignment for a client of her location service Looking for Something? and her car is firebombed, she reluctantly agrees that she's being threatened. As Brodie runs through leads to the culprit behind the threats, Daniel's past comes into question, and Brodie senses that she's not the only one in danger. Bannister skillfully ups the anxiety as Brodie is rendered helpless and events hurtle toward a pounding climax. Agent, Jane Gregory. (Dec. 15)