In addition to his worry about his wife, Ray is having problems at work convincing his partner, Martin Horner, that he should disregard their most lucrative client’s expressed wishes for a house he wants to locate on the California coast. Martin believes it should be designed exactly as the client specifies, but Ray thinks the plot of land on which this estate is to be located is crying for an experimental modern design. Ray knows Martin has the people skills to convince the client, but Martin and Ray have too many issues involved to ever come to a meeting of the minds.

Although Ray is well thought of by his wife’s parents, his father-in-law, James Hubbel, who is a police detective, suspects foul play. When he is not contacted by his daughter. Hubbel allows himself to consider the possibility that his son-in-law is responsible for her disappearance. Ray is left with a dilemma. He doesn’t want to push his wife further away by pursuing her, yet no one close to his wife has heard from her for nearly a week. In addition, unanswered questions from his own, somewhat violent past continue to haunt him.

Finally Ray is forced to take action. A close childhood friend of Leigh’s, Kat Tinsley, convinces Ray of a need for action. She agrees with his demand to search for Leigh without police involvement, but thinks they should cooperate and start looking for Leigh immediately. Kat suggests that Leigh might have retreated to a cabin that her parents had in the mountains so the duo set off to look. They are disappointed when they arrive at the cabin as it appears to be deserted and unoccupied for some time. As they look further, they are confronted with a few rather alarming clues…. A torn blouse Leigh was known to be wearing when she was last seen, and a pile of peanut shells on the back deck.

Keeper of the Keys is a suspenseful novel which manages to provide ample action while, at the same time, is essentially character driven. The reader is immediately drawn into Ray and Leigh’s world wanting them to reconnect. However, there are many increasingly disturbing facts about Ray’s childhood which demand explanation. Readers will certainly identify with Ray and Leigh as well as Kat, but the older generation represented by Leigh’s parents and Ray’s mother evoke continuously changing emotions. As each new piece of the puzzle is slotted into place, the motives of the parents become more and more nebulous.

Those readers who enjoy matching wits with the main characters should not miss this book. Appearances are not all that they seem, and the characters themselves grow or self destruct as the action proceeds. It is interesting to see how some people can be so mentally tough and weak simultaneously. Although this novel is not one that will probably remain embedded in your psyche forever, it is an interesting commentary on what motivates people to do what they do, and how easily the motivations of other can be mistaken.

--Andy Plonka