Ghost Image: A Sophie Medina Novel

Early in Crosby’s intriguing second Sophie Medina mystery (after 2013’s Multiple Exposure), the Washington, D.C., photojournalist learns from her friend Brother Kevin Boyle, a Franciscan friar and environmental scientist, that he’s on to something big related to a conference he recently attended at London’s Kew Gardens. When Sophie finds Kevin lying dead in the grotto of his monastery garden, she suspects foul play. A rare book sets Sophie on the trail of a killer that will lead her to London and back again—and a lost treasure that may have important implications in current medicine. Big names such as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Lewis and Clark are thrown around in the course of Sophie’s investigation, but readers looking for a fast pace should look elsewhere. The danger to Sophie never really inspires terror, but her voice is compelling enough to carry the story, even though readers will likely figure out whodunit early in the game. [em]Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary Agency. (Apr.) [/em]