"We need to find out why she lied," Fedderman said.
Pearl nodded. "We need to find her."
Like with many private detective novels, the story opens up with former NYPD captain Frank Quinn sitting at the desk in his Quinn and Associates office when his next case began. A woman claiming to be the deceased Tiffany Keller wanted to hire Quinn to find out who killed her. She was a victim of the notorious serial killer known as The Carver and Quinn was a legend in The City when it came to capturing serial killers.
Obviously, Tiffany wasn't Tiffany and it turned out she was her twin sister, Chrissie. Unfortunately for Quinn, and his associates Pearl and Fedderman, Chrissie repeatedly disappeared. All three ended up working alongside the NYPD, despite the commissioner being against the case at first for political reasons.
Coincidentally, the case heated up when The Carver or Carveresque killings started happening again. Same method, all women with their nipples removed and an X carved below their chest. Also occurring was a love interest for Pearl, who was formerly with Quinn which created silent friction in the office for those of you who love a little romance with your stories of murder and violence.
Chrissie, formerly Tiffany, turned out to be a private investigator from Ohio where Tiffany and Chrissie were from. She is not the only person in the story masquerading as something she is not.
Interspersed with the current action, Lutz takes us back to Ohio when the real Chrissie and Tiffany were young for a bit of back story. We find out that their father was quite a sickie and that a troubled neighbor boy was a pervert and voyeur. The author also offers up the point of view of the killer and the victims.
With the search for the real Chrissie, the fake Chrissie, The Carver and a love story, there is truly something for every type of crime fiction fans in this novel.
The story is lengthy like a thriller but also features bits of police procedural and a touch of hardboiled. It was definitely exciting enough to keep me wanting more. Just when I started thinking I had all the answers, Lutz changed the questions. In the end, I was kind of dumbfounded. It pretty much all made sense in some way but I wasn't satisfied. Lutz is a great author but I am very picky when it comes to endings. I did not really get a true picture of exactly what type of guy Frank Quinn was either. He seemed to be a very minor character in a story based around a case led by him and his team.
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