Lara emailed me about a romantic suspense that was, for her, the perfect blend of both the romance and the suspense, and she wanted to make sure more people knew about. So, behold: guest squee!

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A few weeks ago I did a “Library Lucky Dip:” I grab books, usually about seven, at random off the shelves. I don’t look at the covers or read the blurbs. I’m in and out of that library in minutes. The most recent Library Lucky Dip included a Tess Gerritsen novel. I’ve avoided her novels thus far as the covers are so very miserable and dark. I like dukes, breeches, multi-layered underwear and a guaranteed happy ending; not misery, reality and deaths (except for that VERY serious Val McDermid phase I went through).

The book’s new title is NOT upbeat: Girl Missing. The original title is no better: Peggy Sue Got Murdered (SERIOUSLY!?).

The book’s cover is VERY MISERABLE. The edition I had had a partially visible naked woman in the foetal position on the cover… not a promising start. The blurb was all “THE FIRST BODY IS A MYSTERY. THE NEXT BODY IS A WARNING. THE FINAL BODY… MIGHT BE HERS.” Miserable title, depressing cover, melodramatic blurb: that is the trifecta of NOPE.

But lo, what light through yonder window breaks, it is the first page of the book! I started reading and Could. Not. Stop.

This novel is the most perfect balance of romance and suspense I have read in my 27 years of book obsession. What began as a Well, this is better than doing the dishes very quickly became I’m afraid sleep is no longer an option as I need to finish this book IMMEDIATELY. Although both the suspense and romance plot arcs include the same characters, they read as two separate plots, running parallel and rarely intertwining. The suspense plot is one of twists and turns and INTRIGUE. All the clues point to A Person… BUT DO THEY?! The romance plot is the story of two people tentatively learning to trust again, with a good dose of sexual tension and a smidgeon of sexy time thrown in!

The heroine is Kat Novak. My favourite book heroines are the ones I either want to be, or be friends with. Kat Novak is both. She has worked hard to be where she is (one of the medical examiners in Boston) but is pleasingly ordinary at times. For example, she gets excited when her car starts on the first attempt. These moments of ordinariness do not feel clumsy or false; they feel so wonderfully, comfortingly real. Yet, she is also all the things I wish I was: brave, a homeowner, and not afraid to rock the boat / irritate important people.

The story begins with Kat having to work on the body of a ‘Jane Doe’. Although her colleagues are happy to dismiss the case as a drug overdose, Kat is not convinced and sends blood for tests. Other cases with the same symptoms come into her morgue and she decides to light a fire under the investigating detectives. The cast of characters includes Kat’s ex, the Assistant DA, who is a very likeable jerk, and Kat’s boss, who is NOT interested in anything that will upset the police department. For Kat, all roads lead to… Yes, you guessed it! Suspect number one is her love interest!

Her love interest in the book is the super rich, super hot owner of a pharmaceutical company. I don’t want to tell you too much about how they come into contact with each other or why, but suffice to say Kat is NOT impressed with him at first. Throughout all the stages of their romance, though, their relationship feels real, but not the kind of real where miscommunication or non-communication are the norm and they’re left sitting on the couch staring at their messages trying to work out if the text is abrupt or just short. None of that. This is a relationship tinged with drama in which BOTH parties make compromises. Kat has to learn to trust this dude, and the dude needs to let go of old baggage.

The plot might seem a little old-fashioned in parts (the book *was* written in 1994) but the writing is magnetic. It is simply NOT possible to stop reading. I can’t explain to you how the author does it, but it feels a little like a magic spell. After finishing this book, I was in that glorious post-book fog where the real world still seems a little distant and it takes a minute for the fictional world you’ve been living in for 12 hours straight to fade away.

My advice? IGNORE the cover! IGNORE the title! READ the book! It is frivolous and serious, utterly engaging and a little scary. I recommend pairing this book with a very comfortable reading spot and several pots of tea with satisfying snacks taken at regular intervals. The book is, in fact, so engaging you could probably read it during a long trip and not even notice the elbows/drool/body odour of the person next to you.

It’s my first A of the year and I am now stalking the local secondhand bookstores trying to find my very own copy.