cover image Question of Trust

Question of Trust

Laura Caldwell. Mira, $7.99 mass market (384p) ISBN 978-0-7783-1321-2

In her fifth Izzy McNeil mystery (after Claim of Innocence), former attorney Caldwell falls into the serial character trap, lazily bringing readers up to speed on Izzy's transformation from a civil to a criminal lawyer and her moonlighting job as a PI. Izzy also harkens back to last year's lover%E2%80%94her ex-fianc%C3%A9, Sam%E2%80%94 the murder of her friend Jane, and the sudden reappearance of her dad, but only gives enough details to confuse. Quirky Izzy's new fling, Theo%E2%80%94eight years her junior and partner in a successful web development company%E2%80%94is being investigated by the U.S. Attorney's Office for money laundering and wire fraud, but he claims he's innocent. Throw in a boatload of cocaine, a Mexican drug cartel, a dead neighbor (whose death, as noted in the Prologue but not revisited until the final third of the book, drags the novel along), and a hefty sum of missing money, and the result is a story that tries hard but doesn't produce much suspense. (Mar.)