Deputy District Attorney Samantha Kincaid is back at work after an attempt on her life and a promotion into the Major Crimes Unit. When the husband of a Portland city judge reports his wife missing, Samantha is assigned the case. She assumes her only job is to make the district attorney look good until the judge turns up. When the police discover evidence of foul play, Samantha finds herself unearthing secrets that were meant to stay hidden. Missing Justice confirms Alafair Burke's place among the genre's most talented and exciting newcomers.
©2004 Alafair Burke; (P)2005 Bolinda Publishing Pty. Ltd.
"The author's background as a former deputy district attorney in Portland lends gritty ambience to this modern parable of greed and ambition." (Booklist)
"Witty and concise dialogue." (Publishers Weekly)
"Dull"
This one wasn't for me. The author failed to create a credible environment in which to stage her characters. To my mind these too lacked sufficient form or depth to be convincing or draw an empathetic response from this reader. The plot was complex but the denouement disappointing with a long explanation of the ins and outs from one of the characters. The woman narrator also didn't quite cut the mustard. Her downunder accent did not help to centre the characters in North America and her voice was a little harsh. For some reason women narrators seem to face more pitfalls than men especially, maybe, in this genre.