Double take A Madison Kelly mystery

In Breck's intricately plotted sequel to 2020's Anonymous, La Jolla, Calif., PI Madison Kelly, who has earned a reputation for locating missing people when others have failed, takes on a desperate new client, Travis Moore. Travis tells Madison that his girlfriend, Barrett Brown, who works for a local newspaper, has been missing for five days and the police are doing nothing to help. Madison accepts his retainer, vowing to find Barrett and bring her home. As she digs deeper into the Barrett's life, Madison begins to identify strongly with her: both are fiercely independent introverts who won't shy away from danger. The tension rises when Madison realizes a surveillance team is following her every move. Meanwhile, she worries about the possible return of her breast cancer, which resulted in a double mastectomy three years earlier, and how this news will affect her relationship with her neighbor Dave, "the surfer who was her on-again, off-again boyfriend and all-the-time love of her life." Breck, herself a licensed private investigator, makes Madison a convincing heroine. Readers will look forward to seeing more of her. Agent: Abby Saul, Lark Group. (Oct.)

A second case for San Diego shamus Madison Kelly finds her suddenly awash in job offers. The one she picks is a doozy. Pharmaceutical sales rep Travis Moore's girlfriend, Hillcrest Holler reporter Barrett Anna Brown, disappeared five days ago. The police have limited interest in something that happens all the time, and Travis is willing to advance Madison $5,000 to spend a week looking for her. Within hours, Madison has a lead: half a dozen death certificates Barrett requested copies of. Greg and Isabel Thomas, Jason and Rebecca Brady, and Rex and Tammy Hacks all died in accidents that claimed the lives of both members of each couple. The same person, Crystal Ladessa, is listed as handling the paperwork on all three of their estates, and Joseph L. Viceroy, the lawyer Crystal works for, has set up charitable trusts as secondary legatees for each of the childless couples. Holler editor Cornell Jones says he knew Barrett only professionally even though a telltale photo shows the two of them together in a restaurant in Mexico. Madison, who notices early on that she's being followed everywhere she goes, clearly thinks she'd be a superhero if she had more upper-body strength. But she's too busy itemizing dates, addresses, architectural details, and the brand names of her boots and flak jacket to consider why her client might be lying to her over apparently innocent details or, once the case heats up, to return calls and texts from surfer Dave Rich, her maybe boyfriend, and married SDPD Detective Thomas Clark, who'd like to be more than her buddy. The upshot is as predictable as the solution. The single best thing about this flawed, likable mystery is the sly clue buried in its title. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.