55048

Unrealistic plot. Poor characters. ( )

Maddy Glenn is the mayor of a small town, Santa Rita, in California. Small town politics are her daily business until her campaign treasurer is abducted. The only clue is a Madison Glenn business card with 4 drops of blood on it. And of course that's not all. As the crimes continue with more and more clues linking Maddy to the case, things begin to get dangerous. Police escorts, private investigators, angry fathers, and a van that seems to be following her all add up to lots of stress.

I really enjoyed Maddy as a character. She was a strong woman, but was had a deeper side to her than your stereotypical "strong female lead" role. She was compassionate to others effected by the crimes, and regularly complained about how over protective her parents could act, even though she had been out on her own for years. The characters surrounding Maddy were also very fun to read about. My only complaint were the main police characters seemed a little over the top. The disgruntled (and highly agitated) ex-husband of the first victim was an interesting addition to the story, but he almost played too large a part. However, since this is a series, they could just be setting the players for the second book.

The book was quite enjoyable, but I had the mystery figured out way too early to get excited about the big revelation near the end.

3/5 ( )