The woman who hired him to prove she was Katie Baker’s heir, Pam Livingston, contacts Paul just after he has a break-in and has items connected to Katie stolen. Pam tells Paul that she thinks there is more to Katie’s story than they first thought and asks Paul to return to Oregon for further research.

Paul heads back to Oregon where he left a set of research materials as well. Once in Oregon, a series of accidents and attacks befall everyone connected with his research, including attempts on his life. Finding clues to gold unaccounted for in the original search gives Paul a motive for the attacks, but he hasn’t a clue who might be behind them.

Trying to stay one step ahead of a violent attacker who will stop at nothing to find the gold, while looking for clues if the gold actually exists and where it might be, Paul and Pam fight feelings for each other that they once shared. They’re unsure of what the future holds for either of them.

Katie’s Gold picks up, a bit unevenly, where Katie’s Will left off when Paul helped Pam prove she was the rightful heir to Katie’s estate. The references to the original search, a search in which over a million dollars of gold was overlooked, seem forced and are not smoothly integrated into this story. The premise of the story is interesting, though there are no clues as to how someone seemingly unrelated to Katie’s story knows about the gold, and how they know it is worth so much that it is necessary to intimidate and kill everyone who has any knowledge of Katie’s life. The story also has many suspenseful moments, but the plot never quite comes together. There are never any viable suspects and when the solution is offered, the means to the ends seem like overkill.

Paul has definitely been thrown by his wife’s leaving him, especially for another woman, and is having trouble reconnecting with his sons, something that seems odd in light of the fact that there is now no male in their daily lives. Paul’s absorption with searching for Katie’s heirs also has thrown his life off kilter. He and Pam had a physical relationship that never really progressed, but upon his return, Paul seems obsessed with the possibility of sleeping with Pam once again, though never expresses feelings for her beyond the physical nature. The connection to Katie Baker that all characters share is not always clear, nor is how the attacker knows who all the peripheral researchers are.

Many false starts and suspenseful situations will give readers hope that the story will begin to gel, but it never really does and a rushed ending may leave many wanting for more.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry