July 1, 2021
The latest round of unrest in the English Midlands town of Norbold revolves around two women. One of them is dead, and the other just won't go away. DC Hazel Best, a friend of Peregrine, the 28th Earl of Byrfield, recognizes the man PC Wayne Budgen has found beaten unconscious as archaeologist David Sperrin, the illegitimate son of the 27th Earl. Sperrin's injuries have inconveniently shut down his memory, but unbidden and unnerving snapshots return to him as he lies in the hospital. A woman had been running toward him. She was crying that she wouldn't become a China Rose because she was a Vietnamese citizen. She was shot in the back and died in his arms. But he can't remember her name or explain what brought them together in the first place or why no one can find her body. As Hazel and her mates at the Meadowvale Police Station labor to fill in the blanks in Sperrin's story, her quirky bookseller friend, Gabriel Ash, must deal with an equally troublesome woman: his estranged wife, Cathy, who's popped up out of nowhere in defiance of a warrant for her arrest for murder, ostensibly to spend some time with the children Ash wants sole custody of, but almost certainly bent on some more sinister errand. Emerging hints that Rose Doe, as the police dub the victim pulled from the Clover Hill Dam--the woman David remembered--had been smuggled into the country by human traffickers deepens both the mystery and the menace for Hazel and makes it even more imperative that Ash send Cathy on her way regardless of every threat she makes to his family's quiet life. Fueled more by sadness and moral outrage than mystery--but fans won't mind that a bit.
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August 1, 2021
Another excellent installment in Bannister's Hazel Best & Gabriel Ash series, this focuses on the tragic issue of human trafficking. Hazel's friend David Sperrin--a feisty, socially awkward anthropologist--is found beaten and severely concussed. At first, he can't recall what happened, but as his memory returns, he's horrified to recall that a young woman died in his arms after being shot in a field. Newly promoted to detective constable, Hazel is desperate to find the truth, but David's unreliable memory makes it difficult. The worst happens when he finally realizes what occurred and goes after the killer. Tragedy strikes, but that leads Hazel and her boss, DCI Gorman, to a human-trafficking ring. Meanwhile, Hazel's friend Gabriel Ash is aghast when his soon-to-be-ex-wife, who's wanted by Interpol, appears on his doorstep, putting him in legal jeopardy. It's only after she leaves the country that Gabriel and Hazel understand that she's involved in the human-trafficking ring. A cliff-hanger ending, strong characters, anguish, suspense, tragedy, and Bannister's outstanding ability to tell a riveting yet heartwarming story make this a terrific read.
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