Girl Missing
Tess Gerritsen

Bantam Books
1994/ ISBN 9780553820294
Romantic Suspense/Med. Exam-Kat Novak-Fic City-Contemporary
Amazon

Reviewed by L J Roberts

First Sentence: An hour before her shift started, an hour before she was even supposed to be there, they rolled the first corpse through the door.

Medical examiner starts her day with the body of a Jane Doe. The only clue to her identification is a matchbook containing a phone number and a wealthy man looking for a missing female, but not this one. Kat can’t identify what killed the woman and is even more suspicious when a second body turns up from the same part of town with the same blood-test results. Kat suspects a new drug on the street with its origin being the wealthy man’s pharmaceutical company. The more questions Kat asks, the more dangerous things become for her.

It was interesting to see the transition of Ms. Gerritsen from romantic / suspense writer to thriller/mystery writer. This was a fun segue of those two subgenres.

The hallmarks of Ms. Gerritsen’s style were apparent; smart female protagonist, scientific information based on fact, very good suspense and a surprising ending. What were a bit disconcerting were the location of a fictional city after being so accustomed to her books being set in Boston, love scenes, the hero coming to the rescue at one point, and the woman from a tough background with the privileged man.

Certainly, “Girl Missing” was a quick read and never boring; there was never an inclination to put it down and it was a straight-through read because of its compelling plot. It’s enjoyable and perfect for an airplane read.