Review of "Dead and Gone: A Detective Annalisa Vega Mystery" by Joanna Schaffhausen

In this third book in the 'Annalisa Vega' series, the police detective investigates the death of a private detective. The book works fine as a standalone.

*****

As the story opens, Chicago Police Detective Annalisa Vega.....



.....and her police partner Nick Carelli have been investigating the Chicken Bandit case. Vega and Carelli work well together, in part because they were once married, and - now that Nick has changed his cheating ways - are giving the relationship another chance.



The Chicken Bandit, a man who wears a chicken mask, has been holding up corner stores and late-night delis, and he's proven very hard to catch.



Tired from night patrols, Vega and Carelli are preparing for work one morning when Annalisa gets a call from the boss, Commander Lynn Zimmer. Zimmer summons Annalisa to Rosehill Cemetery for "a probable homicde, special circs.'



At the Rosehill graveyard, a man is hanging from a tree, with the word PIG painted on his shirt. Zimmer identifies the victim as Sam Tran, an ex-cop who's been a private investigator for 10 years. Zimmer mentions Sam was a good friend, and puts Annalisa on the case....leaving Detective Carelli to chase the Chicken Bandit.



As Vega begins her inquiries into Sam's death, she learns the PI had three open cases. Annalisa speculates that Sam's murder may be related to one of the open inquiries, which include the following:

⦿ By coincidence, Annalisa's niece Quinn, a co-ed at Illinois University, is being harassed by a stalker who's sending anonymous notes and drawing dick pics on her door. So Quinn's father Vinny (Annalisa's brother) hired Sam to track down the perp.



⦿ A twenty-year-old homicide claimed the lives of Stephen Powell and Kathy Morrison, a couple engaged in an extramarital affair. Stephen and Kathy were brutally bludgeoned in a motel room, and the crime was never solved. Recently, Kathy's husband Brad Morrison employed Sam to look into the cold case.



⦿ A young mom named Nina Osteen, whose mother Charlotte disappeared over thirty years ago, hired Sam to find Charlotte.



Annalisa proceeds to look into Sam's open investigations, and by chance, even encounters the Chicken Bandit. All this puts Annalisa's life in grave danger, and I must say, I wish Annalisa wasn't such a maverick and always called in backup. This 'bravery' may be a family trait since Annalisa's niece Quinn has the same bad habit of walking head-on into danger. 😏



In the midst of all this, Annalisa has a lot going on in her personal life. In the past, a scandal led to Annalisa putting her father and brother in prison, and the Vega family is still reeling from the aftermath. Moreover, unexpected discoveries lead Annalisa to do some deep thinking about her relationship with Nick.



By the end of the book Annalisa has solved all the cases and is considering a new future for herself. It will be interesting to see what happens next.

Thanks to Netgalley, Joanna Schaffhausen, and Minotaur Books for a copy of the manuscript.

Rating: 3.5 stars