Blood Relations

San Francisco PI Leland Crowe, the narrator of this page-turner from Moore (The Night Market), investigates the alleged suicide of the only daughter of one of California’s wealthiest women. When Claire Gravesend, a student attending Harvard University, is found dead on top of a Rolls Royce and wearing a black cocktail dress in the city’s seedy Tenderloin neighborhood, the coroner quickly deems the death a suicide—but Claire’s mother wants more information and enlists Crowe’s help. After fending off an attacker while searching Claire’s residence in Boston, Crowe connects the pieces—which include horrific scars on Claire’s back from her childhood, the mysterious origins of her birth, and her interest in stem cell research—to uncover a conspiracy that those involved are willing to murder to keep hidden. Though the disgraced and divorced Crowe is largely a genre cliché, a well-crafted plot, relentless pacing, and the highly satisfying conclusion more than compensate. Equal parts mystery and thriller, this standalone is a winner. [em]Agent: Alice Martell, Martell Agency. (June) [/em]