She Treads Softly: The Missing Witness

Thursday, January 11, 2024

The Missing Witness

The Missing Witness by Allison Brennan
1/23/24; 416 pages
MIRA Books
Kara Quinn #5

The Missing Witness by Allison Brennan is a complex procedural which leads readers through an intricate labyrinth of information to a very satisfying final denouement. It is very highly recommended and the fifth book featuring Kara Quinn.

Detective Kara Quinn and FBI agent Matt Costa have returned to Los Angeles where Kara is going to testify against human trafficker David Chen. Then Chen is shot on his way to court and a witness to the crime disappears. The witness also happens to be an important whistleblower to an even bigger case of corruption involving city leaders, the police and the FBI that is also tied to the case against Chen. There are many hidden secrets and knowledge about the corruption and who is involved is dangerous.

The pace is fast, there are numerous details to recall, and there are also a large number of characters to follow which all work together in this complex intricate labyrinth of a novel. An important aspect of the story involves the homeless population and secrets, schemes and corruption involving solutions to the issue. While the tension is high, it's essential to keep track of all the clues and details to appreciate the complicated puzzle the case presents and follow everything to the conclusion.

As I have been following this series, it was easy to recognize known characters and pick up where we left off. Readers may benefit from following the series in order, but you can also jump into it with The Missing Witness. Kara Quinn is a wonderful character. She is intelligent, determined, and fearless. Matt Costa is equally intelligent, tenacious, and compliments her character nicely. There are a whole lot of characters that are also written as realistic individuals.

This is a must read for anyone following the series, as well as those who enjoy procedurals and novels of suspense. I was actually going to rate the novel down a star until late in the novel where Brennan pulled out all the stops. At this point the action was incredible intense and there were several shocking surprises and twists. The order of the series is The Third to Die, Tell No Lies, The Wrong Victim, Seven Girls Gone, and The Missing Witness. Disclosure: My advanced reading copy (ARC) was courtesy of MIRA Books via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.