Marie is not satisfied with the verdict; not because she doesn’t believe Ray killed Natalie, but because she doesn’t know why. The state prosecutor, Franklin DeWeese, also Marie’s lover, tells the jury they don’t need to know why he did it to convict Ray, just that there is enough physical evidence. For Marie and her book, however, it is not enough.

After the guilty verdict is read, Ray lashes out in the courtroom and the judge pulls out a pistol, shooting and wounding Ray. Ray is more clever, however, than people counted on and attacks the paramedics trying to help him in the elevator and disappears into the canals of Bahia Beach. As the police try and track Ray down, Marie continues her quest for Ray’s true identity and the reasons for his heinous crime.

Marie’s search takes her to Kansas where she meets Ray’s family and learns he was abducted from them twenty-two years earlier. When another connection to the case is made in Kansas, Marie urges Ray’s mother and sister to come to Florida and appeal to Ray to turn himself in. Marie hopes this new connection and Ray’s reappearance will give her the whys she needs for the book and give the case the closure everyone needs.

Marie is a wonderful new protagonist who has a strong sense of self -- most of the time. Her vulnerability comes from her parents’ disappearance more than thirty years ago; a case that has never been solved. There are messages left for Marie that might provide her with information to her past, but Pickard allows Marie to neatly avoid these calls, leaving that mystery for another time.

There are several parallels between Ray and Marie, including the fact that they both use assumed names and both lost their parents at an early age, that allow the reader to understand why Marie feels some compassion toward a man that most of South Florida would like to see dead.

Pickard has created a very complex heroine and a strong supporting cast in this compelling first entry in an engaging new series. Readers will look forward to the next Marie Lightfoot mystery and the delving into the many layers of this new protagonist.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry