Blind Faith, Colin Harvey's fourth novel, is a gripping thriller about Frances Dedman, a blind, part-time tarot reader and private investigator on Brighton Pier, a resort town in England, in the summer of 2005. Frances is no ordinary tarot reader or PI. Not because she's blind—she does use a Braille tarot deck—but because she suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder, what used to be called multiple personality disorder. She has only had one major episode with her alter identity, Faith DuQuayne, but it was extreme, blocking out Frances' persona for two years. Faith is gutsy, out-of-control, sighted, and appeared at a time when Frances was suffering under the bullying of classmate Vicki Durrant.

Ironically, when Frances and her Uncle John take on the case of a missing fifteen-year-old girl, Vicki (the girl's aunt by marriage) re-enters Frances' world. This time, Vicki is no longer the bully, but may be a victim herself. The police have put the case on the back burner because of a rash of terrorist bombings in London so Frances and her uncle seem to be the only help available to the missing girl's family. During their investigation, Frances becomes convinced that the missing girl has been kidnapped by an underground religious cult so Frances secretly decides to infiltrate the church, becoming a new convert. Her uncle, her clients, and the police don't know what she has done and she herself doesn't realize just how much danger she has put herself in.

Because I cared so much about Frances when she went undercover, I wanted to close the pages of this book so that I wouldn't see what harm Frances would come to. Her foray into the underground church would have been risky for a trained police officer but for a young blind girl, it was the ultimate madness. Still, I read on and was treated to a very satisfying way to resolve Frances' dilemma, professionally and personally.

I've read three of Colin Harvey's four novels and found that this one, Blind Faith, was by far the best. It has been carefully written and tweaked to provide a tight plot and exquisite pacing. The characters are finely drawn and very believable. Thank you, Colin Havey, for bringing this story to readers! More, please.