Someone Else's Daughter

A Miranda's Rights Mystery, Book 1

By: Linsey Lanier

Narrated by: Kristin James

Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's Summary

Book #1 in the exciting mystery-thriller series from best-selling author Linsey Lanier. 

The searching mother

Miranda Steele.
Feisty. Independent. Skeptical.
Thirteen years ago her abusive husband stole her baby and gave it up for adoption. 

She comes to Atlanta to find her daughter. 

The PI 

Wade Parker.
Ace detective.
Wealthy owner of the Parker Investigative Agency.
The most eligible 44-year-old bachelor in Atlanta. 

Still mourning the death of his socialite wife, he must solve a disturbing murder case. Before the killer strikes again. 

The murderer

A serial killer strangling young girls in a bizarre ritual. Why? 

She doesn't need a man. 

He needs to find a killer. 

Together, can they save a 13-year-old girl? 

You'll love book one in this exciting mystery-thriller series from best-selling author Linsey Lanier, because listeners say they can't put it down. Get it now.

©2011 Linsey Lanier (P)2018 Linsey Lanier

Critic Reviews

"An empowered and formidable heroine." (Kirkus Reviews) 

"Highly charged and emotional.... Read it with tissue[s] from the very beginning." (Pamela Mason)

A long listen but so worth it

I settled into this listen right away. The opening paragraph dealt with domestic abuse but after that, the abusee became a 'take no prisoners' femme fatal (after her dirtbag husband threw her out, of course - and gave her baby up for adoption),

Miranda learned how to take care of herself (and take a punch.) She also became a crusader for abused women. Her 12-year effort to find her daughter puts her right smack on the path of a serial killer.

This was an intense and interesting mystery. I don't think the romance between Miranda and Wade (the owner of the detective agency she found a job with) was realistic. It feels like it was just thrown in but there was no real connection, or reason for the connection. It didn't deter too much from the mystery though.

I loved the narrator! James was the complete package!

I won't give away the ending but it sets up nicely for book two.

Mixed message mystery

Given the subject matter of this book (a missing child, domestic abuse, a serial killer), I expected this mystery to be much darker than it was. The opening reveals Miranda in desperate straits as her abusive policeman husband kicks her out of their house on a snowy night after putting their 3-month-old daughter up for adoption (without Miranda's permission). This prologue is followed by Chapter 1 with Miranda winning a hot pepper eating contest to shut up one of her fellow construction workers. This jarring shift from Miranda as a skittish abused wife to a boisterous kickass woman who does manual labor is the first of many contradictions that made this story not work for me.

The story unfolds with, in my opinion, events contrived for the sake of the story and which are simply implausible. Miranda is contacted by an adoption organization that matches adoptees with their biological parents only to be told they can't help her and have no info other than a letter written several months ago by a 13yo girl seeking her adoptive parents. However, the girl's letter contains no contact info or identifying info other than stating she lives in a Buckhead. (Question to author: If the young girl asks for help, why doesn't she provide a way for the agency to contact her?)

Miranda essentially "steals" the letter from the adoption agency worker, quits her job and heads to Buckhead in search of this anonymous young girl who might/maybe/possibly/could be her daughter. Her plan to locate this young girl is to drive around the wealthy neighborhoods. This lack of cohesive, credible motivation is a big part of why I could not immerse myself in the story.

Another contradiction to the dark tone of this mystery was the introduction of Wade Parker - playboy PI extraordinaire, He is attending an upper crust society affair, tracking a jewel thief, but the author describes how he eyes and is eyed by the beautiful women in attendance (despite still mourning the death of his beloved wife). The narrator's vocal characterization of Wade Parker makes him sound comic because of the heavily affected Southern accent. After nabbing the criminal, Wade is called in to help solve the case of a missing young girl.

In the meantime, Miranda has overheard a conversation between young people hinting about a young girl (who happens to be adopted!!!!) who is sneaking out to meet her boyfriend because her terrible parents have forbid her to do so. For Miranda, this is sufficient information to believe this unhappy young teen might/maybe/possibly/could be the same unhappy adopted teen who wrote the letter to the adoption agency who might/maybe/possibly/could be Miranda's missing daughter.

The lack of a tightly woven plot driven by more than convenient coincidence and inconsistent characterization made this story difficult for me to enjoy.

The narrator affects several different vocal personalities, making it easy to differentiate between characters. Some of them were a bit extreme, which again contradicted the dark tone of the subject matter contained in this story.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

terrible

completely implausible premise. Don't waste your time. Just stupid. All the depth of a Dick and Jane story

Great book

First audio book for me and I picked a good one. The narration was very clear and precise. Looking forward to hearing the rest of the series.

Great read

Loved the storyline & setting.
only that would make it better is if there was a male voice also.

Great Read

This book is fabulous! The narrator is spot on. I read the book prior to listening to this and narrator gave the characters some real personality and made them seem real. I am more interested than before I reading the other books in the series!

What would you do if your child was taken?

In the case of Miranda Steele, whose infant daughter was put up for adoption by her ex husband without her consent, just about anything. While following her latest lead, Miranda inadvertently finds herself in the middle of a serial killer murders. This is how she meets hotshot PI, Wade Parker. In spite of his adult daughter’s misgivings, Parker hires Miranda to join his elite PI firm. Lots of chemistry between this duo, but Miranda is stubborn and a bit brash...sometimes even unlikable. Good storyline with lots of action.

Smirking isn’t sexy

It’s petty, yes, but also indicative of the poor writing and weak story that is this book. A smirk is the only look the 36 year old protagonist seems to have. Pair that with her juvenile hot paper eating contests and bar fights, and we do not have a believable success story in love or career.
The narrator has unbelievable and hard to tolerate accents.
I didn’t love this book.

Just.... No

This could have been a great story but it wasn’t. The ending left so much to be desired. The narrator was the same person using different southern accents for each (male and female) characters. POOR accents! Repetitive statements through the book. Old, outdated verbiage. Just pulled me out of the story to go “whaaaaat?” For example: “tussle”, “clonk”, “below her navel”.... just insulting to southerners overall like we are dumb and weak.

surprised

It was a great story. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Towards the end I couldn't stop listening, the story had me. I look forward to the next book.

Wry disappointed

This story was very clinch.....and the reading very poor quality. I struggled to listened to the end by which time I could fill in all the descriptions before they were read, as they were that obvious. Sorry I won’t be reading any other books from this author and hopefully won’t come across the narrator again either.

Utter twaddle

Only managed to listen to 28 minutes of this before giving up. The story had so many holes in it, so many inaccuracies that it was impossible for me to listen any further. Don't waste your money as I did.

Predictable Read

This book is such a cliche, it has moments that makes it interesting but generally just the kind thing you can read on a flight and throw out when you get to your destination...