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Pete Decker must penetrate a web of family feuds and secrets to resolve his sixth compelling mystery

About the Author

Faye Kellerman has four children and lives with them and her husband, novelist and psychologist Jonathan Kellerman, in Los Angeles.

Reviews

Complications in the delivery room lead to major surgery for Rina Decker, who, when last seen in False Prophet , was pregnant with her and husband Peter Decker's first child . She is barely out of danger when an infant vanishes from the hospital's understaffed nursery, and proud father Peter, an LAPD detective sergeant, declares (in a mercifully brief descent into melodrama), ``I owe it to that little baby girl to find her.'' Marie Bellson, the nurse in charge of the unit that night, has also disappeared, but it is difficult to tell whether the woman--apparently a fiercely dedicated nurse--is a villain or a second victim. Peter's partner, Marge Dunn, visits Marie's mother, Lita, at her retirement home. Lita, a real pistol unsoftened by age, clues Marge in on Marie's days as ``Miss Flower Child'' before she ``found Jesus'' and became a nurse. Despite extended excursions into Rina's medical tribulations and the awkward introduction of a significant character in isolated vignettes from left field, Kellerman weaves a satisfying mystery that includes elements of the Decker family's daily life as Orthodox Jews. Her plot is generated by the failings of very human characters and derives depth from her consideration of healthy and unhealthy family relationships. Author tour. (Aug.)

This is another engrossing mystery in Kellerman's series featuring Rina and Peter Decker. While preoccupied with the birth of their first baby, a daughter, the couple are perturbed to learn of the disappearance of another newborn from the hospital nursery. While Rina recovers from the birthing, Peter sets out with his partner to investigate the events surrounding the missing baby girl. Chief suspect in the crime is a hard-working but stern nurse in the maternity ward who is also missing. This is a well-balanced tale, engaging the listener in an intricate plot and the details of the personal lives and relationships of the main characters. The reading by Buck Schirner is moderately paced, enabling the listener to absorb the author's detailed descriptions of characters, settings, and action. Recommended for mystery and general fiction collections.-- Catherine Swenson, Norwich Univ. Lib., Northfield, Vt.