Cold Blooded

Cold Blooded by Lisa Regan  310 pages

I was first introduced to Lisa Regan’s work when I read Finding Claire Fletcher. Tautly written---except of the last couple of chapters---it was one of the best-rounded kidnapping stories that I have read in recent years.

Regan stays within the same mystery/suspense/thriller genre, but this time the story revolves around a terminally ill former detective, Augustus Knox, and a cold case. The story is set in 2014 with the murder of Sydney Adam, high school track star, occurred in 2002.

Knox is a drunk, the unresolved murder of Sydney has haunted---and ruined---him. I’m not sure why, but I pictured him as a rather obese man, but the description of his jaundice and thin, frail frame just didn’t jive with me. Maybe if it was brought up earlier. Now Knox has congestive heart failure and COPD. His doctor believes he will be dead in three to four months, but he isn’t ready to give up entirely. He is bound and determined to find Sydney’s killer.

He enlists the help of the private detective Jocelyn Rush and her partner Anita. Rush. Jocelyn has a whole set of her own problems and is scarred individual, physically, mentally, and emotionally. But she’s still a good detective.

Now it’s up to the three of them to determine if the person of interest all those years ago can finally be brought to justice. There are some interesting twists as Jocelyn, Anita, and Know draw closer to the truth…which was shocking. Cold Blooded is a good read; I give it 4 out of 5 stars.