Review: Darkness Falls – Kate Marshall #3 ( Robert Bryndza)

Kate Marshall is back. Myra, her AA sponsor, has died and left Kate her business, with the caveat that Kate start her own PI business. And she does.

Business, however, is slow, and Kate and Tristan need a break. They get one when Bev, the mother of journalist now missing a dozen years, asks them to look into her daughter’s case. It’s long gone cold, but Kate and Tristan will take it – it’s better than no work, after all. Bev’s current partner has somehow laid hands on the boxes (and boxes) of case files kept by the police, and Kate and Tristan start going through it, following the same leads, looking in the same spots. They come up empty, even though the journalist was thought to be working on a story involving a local politician.

Until Kate notices two names written on a notebook. Two men, young and healthy, gone missing without a trace. Just like the journalist, but prior to her own disappearance. Could they be related?

With a new wind in their sails, the duo start the tedious task of determining who these men were, tracing their contacts, and figuring out why they would disappear. The chasing of the clues, the interviews, the scenery: no sagging middle in this book.

Eventually, Kate puts the pieces together. The only gripe I had here is that unlike the last book in the series, I didn’t think there were enough clues – or, rather, enough details in some respects – to allow the reader to determine (or guess) the villain in this one.

Still, it’s an enjoyable read, about people who are grounded in who they are and have a doggedness worthy of admiration.

Four out of five stars.

Thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the reading copy.