Her Mother’s Grave: A Detective Josie Quinn Mystery

Early in Regan’s gripping if at times convoluted third Josie Quinn mystery (The Girl with No Name), Josie, the police chief of Denton, Pa., and her friends and colleagues, Lt. Noah Fraley and Det. Gretchen Palmer, are called to a crime scene adjacent to a rundown trailer park, where the remains of a teenage girl have been uncovered. Dental records identify the girl as Belinda Rose, who was murdered some 30 years earlier. The name is the same as that of Josie’s abusive mother, whom she hasn’t seen for many years. The teenager can’t be her mother, so what unites the two Belindas? The team’s attempts to reconstruct the murder victim’s past trigger a series of memories for Josie of the times her mother abandoned her as a child. These memories become increasingly depraved and horrifying. Meanwhile, a malicious predator is posting rape fantasy sex requests on Craigslist under Josie’s name. Improbable but nonetheless intriguing connections between Josie and her family keep the pages turning. Despite the abundance of melodrama, readers will want to see how it all turns out. Agent: Claire Bord, Bookouture. (Nov.)