“I object to evidence of any extraneous offenses, Your Honor. They are irrelevant and to the extent they have any relevance the prejudicial effect of such testimony outweighs its probative value.”

Chris Sinclair, the district attorney of Bexar County, Texas, is struck by his recognition of the plaster cast made from the skull of an unidentified teenager. She bears a striking resemblance to his college girlfriend, Jean Fitzgerald. A search reveals that Jean lives in San Antonio, and her daughter Kristin has been missing for several months. At first Jean claims that she had not reported Kristin as missing because she believed that she has been with her father. Eventually, she reveals that she was kidnapped by her former employer Raleigh Pentell, a shadowy businessman involved in a variety of suspicious activities and who has some very dubious associates. Further investigation reveals that Jean has another daughter who is still being held by Pentell in order to ensure Jean’s cooperation, and Clarissa is Chris’s daughter as well.

Meanwhile, Chris is receiving mysterious email excerpts from Kristin’s diary that lead him to suspect there is even more amiss than he knows. He is determined to bring Pentell to justice, but his involvement with Jean and now his determination to establish a relationship with his daughter complicate matters. Chris’s (very understanding) fiancée Anne Greenwald, an adolescent psychologist, is helpful in reaching out to the tough teenager. Jean, who lived a life on the edge of the law when she and Chris were lovers, remains an enigma. It isn’t until the case comes to trial that Chris is able to peel the layers of deception to discover the truth.

Much of the mystery is not a whodunit but rather a whodunwhat. The story is more character-driven than plot-driven. The reader knows from the outset that a crime has been committed - a young girl has been murdered - but that’s apparently not the only criminal activity going on, and there are a number of suspicious characters lurking around to further confuse the action.

In AfterImage, the author continues his narrative started in Angel of Death which featured Chris Sinclair and Anne Greenwald. One of the novel’s most successful aspects is in their characterization. I was pretty certain all along that Jean was feeding Chris one line of baloney after another and wondered how a successful trial lawyer could be so gullible, but it didn’t make me like him any less. Similarly, Anne is an appealing character; Chris’s taste in women has improved with the years. The story’s end leaves open the possibility of future books with the same characters.

--Lesley Dunlap