Title: Gone by Midnight by Candice Fox
Crimson Lake Series Book Three
Publisher: Forge Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 352 pages
Book Rating: B+
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss
Summary:
#1 New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling author Candice Fox delivers a compulsive new crime thriller with Gone by Midnight.
Crimson Lake is where people with dark pasts come to disappear—and where others vanish into thin air…
When Sara Farrow’s son goes missing from a locked hotel room, she frantically turns for help to Crimson Lake’s unlikeliest private investigators—disgraced cop Ted Conkaffey and convicted killer Amanda Pharrell.
Just the sort of twisted puzzle that gets Amanda’s blood pumping, the disappearance couldn’t have come at a worse time for Ted. He has just this one week with Lillian, the daughter he barely knows…but the clock is ticking for the lost boy.
Amanda and Ted’s search dredges up the area’s worst characters, and the danger they uncover could well put Ted’s own child in deadly peril.
At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Review:
The third installment in the Crimson Lake series, Gone by Midnight by Candice Fox is a suspense-laden mystery about a missing eight year old boy.
Local police in and around Cairns are rather emphatic about NOT working with Ted Conkaffey and Amanda Pharrell. Unfortunately for Chief Superintendent Damian Clark, Sara Farrow, whose son Richie vanished from a Cairns’ hotel, has requested Ted’s assistance. He also gives in to Ted’s request that Amanda work with him on the case due to the urgency in locating the missing child. Ted and Amanda are soon reviewing CCTV footage, re-searching the hotel and questioning local men on the offenders’ list. As days pass without new information, will Amanda and Ted find Richie before it is too late?
Although the allegations against Ted have been quasi resolved, he still faces a great deal of animosity and disgust from the local police. But fortunately for Ted, his ex-wife Kelly is finally giving him the chance to spend quality time with their daughter Lillian. While thrilled at the opportunity to get to get to know his little girl, the timing of the visit could not be worse. Unable to stay away from the investigation, Ted finds an unlikely babysitter to stay with Lillian while he and Amanda desperately hope for leads in Richie’s disappearance.
Amanda remains ratherquirky yet quite appealing. She still manages to irritate most everyone she meets and unbeknownst to her, she has become the target of revenge. Trying to ignore the increasingly menacing situation, Amanda remains focused on solving the mystery of what happened to young Richie. However, as that attacks on her becoming increasingly virulent, Chief Superintendent Clark is losing patience with Amanda. Can she convince him that she is telling the truth about what is happening to her?
The investigation into Richie’s disappearance is tense as his friends are questioned about the night he vanished. The stories from the three boys are creative yet implausible. Ted is extremely sympathetic to Sara but he is a little troubled by some of her reactions. Ex-husband Henry has little information about his son and some of his behavior is also questionable. A worker at the hotel catches both Ted and Amanda’s attention, but does the employee have anything to do with Richie’s disappearance?
Gone by Midnight is a multi-layered, compelling mystery. Mentally, Ted is in a much better place but his past still casts a long shadow over him. Amanda is not one to take threats lying down but the situation soon spirals into very dangerous territory. The investigation surrounding into what happened to Richie moves at a slow but steady pace. With both Amanda and Ted trying to uncover the truth about the young boy, Candice Fox brings this riveting mystery to an unpredictable and stunning conclusion.
The Crimson Lake series is delightfully unique and features two of the best crime-fighters in the genre. I highly recommend both this latest addition and the previous novels in this superb series.
