3.5 stars
In this 4th book in the 'Annalisa Vega' series, the detective investigates a suspicious death. The book works fine as a standalone, though familiarity with the characters is a bonus.
*****
Annalisa Vega and her ex-husband Nick Carelli were detective partners in the Chicago Police Department (CPD) until just lately, when Annalisa left the CPD to open her own private investigation agency.
In their personal lives, Annalisa and Nick have remarried, and become involved in the life of Nick's 16-year-old biological daughter, Cassidy Weaver, who recently showed up in Nick's life.
Annalisa is still setting up her PI office when she gets her first big case. A psychology professor, Dr. Mara Delaney, comes in with a unique problem.
Dr. Delaney has written a book called 'The Good Sociopath' about a Chicago neurosurgeon named Dr. Craig Canning.
Delany contends that Canning's sociopathic personality - with traits like antisocial behavior and lack of empathy and remorse - makes him a good doctor because "it takes a certain kind of nerve to cut into another human being - to crack open their skull and muck around in their blood and brain matter."
'The Good Sociopath' is about to be published but there's a fly in the ointment. A pretty young socialite called Victoria (Vicki) Albright, who lives in Dr. Canning's building, plunged off her balcony and was killed.
Delany fears Canning may have engineered the incident, and if he turns out to be a killer, Delaney's entire project, including the book launch, would be ruined. So Delaney hires Annalisa to look into Vicki's death.
In Annalisa's experience as a cop, sociopaths are violent predators to be eliminated at all costs, so she wouldn't be shocked if Canning was guilty. However Annalisa's husband Nick, who investigated Vicki's demise for the CPD, found the girl's death to be an accident.
Regardless, Annalisa goes full steam ahead, looking for evidence to prove Canning murdered Vicki.
This irritates the neurosurgeon, who fears for his professional reputation, and he counters with pushback and threats.
In the meantime, Annalisa's stepdaughter Cassidy - who's made herself a part-time assistant in Annalisa's PI agency - suggests another case. Cassidy's friend Naomi desperately needs a kidney transplant, and a suitable donor can't be found.
The only possibility might be Naomi's biological mother, Elizabeth Johnson, who deserted the family when Naomi was a small child. Cassidy wants Annalisa to search for Elizabeth, and when Annalisa doesn't move fast enough, Cassidy decides to look for the woman herself.
Annalisa and Cassidy are not related by DNA, but they both have the same tendency to recklessly plunge into dangerous situations. Thus there's plenty of edge-of-your-seat excitement in the book, as well as intriguing twists and turns.
Additional characters add interest to the story, including Vicki's elderly neighbor Ruth - who saw Vicki fall from the balcony;
Mara Delaney's husband Paul - who disapproves of the 'good sociopath' project;
Professor Miles Dupont - who's angry because his book launch was postponed to promote Mara's tome;
Summer Weaver - Cassidy's mother, who's dying of ALS; and more.
I liked the book, my major quibble being that the plot gets over-complicated. Nevertheless, I'd rcommend the novel to readers who enjoy thrillers, especially fans of Annalisa Vega.
Thanks to Netgalley, Joanna Schaffhausen, and Minotaur Books for a copy of the book.
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