The Arizona Triangle: A Jo Bailen Detective Novel

In this accomplished if underheated series launch from Graves (a pseudonym for Welcome Home, Stranger author Kate Christensen), Arizona private eye Justine “Jo” Bailen navigates a looming midlife crisis while digging into the disappearance of her estranged childhood best friend, Rose Delaney. While staking out an infidelity case brought to her all-female detective agency, Jo learns that Rose has gone missing; soon, Rose’s mother, Laura, hires Jo to investigate. The inquiry takes Jo back to Delphi, the artists’ colony north of Tucson where she and Rose grew up. Returning home brings Jo face to face with decades-old traumas, including her distant relationship with her mother and the love triangle involving Jo’s high school boyfriend, Tyler, that destroyed her and Rose’s friendship—which becomes especially pertinent when Tyler, now a police officer, gets assigned to Rose’s case. Graves skillfully depicts the flawed utopia of her desert setting and wrings affecting insights from Jo’s struggles with aging, but the core mystery never totally takes flight. For genre readers more interested in character and atmosphere than plot, however, Graves’s dazzling prose and well-drawn heroine make this well worth seeking out. Agent: Richard Abate, 3 Arts Entertainment. (Oct.)