The Girl Who Disappeared Twice

The Girl Who Disappeared Twice by Andrea Kane

Forensic Instincts #1

IT HAPPENED ONCE. 

IT HAPPENED AGAIN. 

Despite all her years determining the fates of families, judge Hope Willis couldn't save her own. Her daughter taken, she's frantically grasping at any hope for Krissy's return. Her husband dead-set against it, Hope calls a team not bound by the legal system. 

Forensic Instincts: a behaviorist. A techno-wizard. An intuitive. An ex-Navy SEAL. Unconventional operatives. All with unique talents and personal reasons for joining Casey Woods's group, they'll do whatever it takes. 

Able to accurately read people after the briefest of encounters, Casey picks up in the Willis household signs of a nervous spouse, a guilty conscience, a nanny that hides on her phone. Secrets beg to creep into the open. 

Forensic Instincts will dig through each tiny clue and eliminate the clutter, working around the clock. But time is running out, and Casey's team knows that the difference between getting Krissy back and her disappearing forever could be as small as a suspect's rapid breathing, or as deep as Hope's dark family history.

--The Girl Who Disappeared Twice

by Andrea Kane

Copyright © 2011 by Andrea Kane

My Review

At the beginning of Chapter 5, I figured out who kidnapped Krissy.  Truthfully, I had my suspicions almost from the start, but at this point, I knew.  Of course, I had no clue as to the kidnapper’s motive, or the truth behind Hope’s “dark family history,” so I kept reading.  Right about the half-way point, when Casey is talking to both Hope and her mother about that “dark family history,” I knew who was responsible for that one as well.  Again, didn’t know the motive and all the whys and wherefores, so I kept reading. 

I don’t know why I honed in so quickly on these two.  Perhaps because I’ve read a lot of mysteries (or stories that have mysteries in them) and I’ve learned to spot the odd turn of a phrase or the “subtle” hint that is the keystone to the mystery and from there can divine the answer to the puzzle.  Goodness knows I’ve ready plenty where the bad guy remains a mystery to me up until the very end.  I guess there was just something about the way Kane dropped her hints…they whispered to most people, but they shouted at me.

Okay, my Nancy Drew sleuthing skills aside, what did I think of the story?  I thought it was great.  The team of Forensic Instincts is well organized and run (and fun!) and by the end of the story has picked up three new staff members which they truly needed.  And I love the added complication of Casey being romantically involved with Hutch, a member of the FBI Task Force assigned to the case.  They’re both dedicated to solving the case, but the methods Casey sometimes uses causes a bit of conflict between them.  It’s a delightful complication that will surely continue into the ensuing books in the series. 

Will I read the next book, The Line Between Here and Gone?  Yes, it will go into my queue, because I want to learn more about this team and see how Casey and Hutch resolve their next conflict (there’s bound to be one).

I just hope I don’t figure out the answer, or at least part of the answer, to the mystery so quickly.  If I do, I may have to chalk it up to the writer’s skill and will be leery of the third book in the series (whenever it’s released).

I give this story THREE STARS.