Gone in the Night: A Detective Annalisa Vega Novel

The satisfyingly complex fifth case for former Chicago police detective Annalisa Vega (after All the Way Gone) comes to her from her brother, Alex, who’s serving time for aiding in a murder. Alex asks Analisa, heavily pregnant and scrambling for work as a private investigator, to look into the case of Joe Green, a fellow inmate who was convicted of killing Cyrus Merriman, his ex-wife’s lawyer. Alex believes Green is innocent and wants Annalisa to prove it. She agrees—in part because she still feels guilty about her role in putting Alex behind bars—even though her husband was the lead detective on Green’s original case. As Annalisa’s inquiry unfolds, she learns that one of Green’s ex-wives accused him of beating her, and another disappeared. Merriman, it turns out, had been performing pro bono work for Ruby’s Place, a shelter for women attempting to escape abusive relationships. Schaffhausen generates meaningful stakes for Analisa, with her marriage put under increasing strain as she dives deeper into her investigation, and weaves in sobering statistics about violence against women. If the action gets a bit too busy as the twists pile up, readers are unlikely to mind. This is a ride worth taking. (Aug.)