Traces of Guilt (An Evie Blackwell Cold Case)

Product Description A Riveting Cold-Case Mystery from Dee Henderson Evie Blackwell loves her life as an Illinois State Police detective . . . mostly. She's very skilled at investigations and has steadily moved up through the ranks. She would like to find Mr. Right, but she has a hard time imagining how marriage could work, considering the demands of her job. Gabriel Thane is a lifetime resident of Carin County and now its sheriff, a job he loves. Gabe is committed to upholding the law and cares deeply for the residents he's sworn to protect. He too would like to find a lifetime companion, a marriage like his parents have. When Evie arrives in Carin, Illinois, it's to help launch a new task force dedicated to reexamining unsolved crimes across the state. Spearheading this trial run, Evie will work with the sheriff's department on a couple of its most troubling missing-persons cases. As she reexamines old evidence to pull out a few tenuous new leads, she unearths a surprising connection . . . possibly to a third cold case. Evie's determined to solve the cases before she leaves Carin County, and Sheriff Thane, along with his family, will be key to those answers. From Publishers Weekly Launching a contemporary series, Henderson (Full Disclosure) introduces Evie Blackwell, a state cop tentatively being considered for a new governor's unsolved crimes task force. Evie begins with two Carin County, Ill., cases: a missing local sheriff's deputy and his family, and the case of a six-year old girl who goes missing while passing through the county on a family vacation. She teams with Gabriel Thane, the current local sheriff, whose father, Caleb, was sheriff at the time the disappearances occurred. With the exception of 10 pages encompassing a tedious interview with the missing family's counselor, Evie and Gabriel move quickly through leads and possibilities, enlisting help from Gabriel's two brothers and Caleb. Henderson's well-developed cast of supporting characters includes a few recognizable names from her previous novels. Romantic possibilities are raised, but Evie seems to be more concerned with overcoming doubts in a man's profession than she is with the man. Henderson treads very lightly in the faith department, keeping the investigations of the cold cases the focus of the story. Leaving as many mysteries in limbo as solved, Henderson ends this story with plenty of fodder for future installments. (May)\n From the Back Cover She's turning up the heat on Carin County's cold cases . . . Evie Blackwell loves her life as an Illinois State Police detective . . . mostly. She's very skilled at investigations and has steadily moved up through the ranks. She would like to find Mr. Right, but she has a hard time imagining how marriage could work, considering the demands of her job. Gabriel Thane grew up in Carin County and is now its sheriff, a job he loves. Gabe is committed to upholding the law and cares deeply for the residents he's sworn to protect. He too would like to find a lifetime companion, a marriage like his parents have. . . . When Evie arrives in Carin, Illinois, it's to help launch a new task force focused on unsolved crimes across the state. She will work with the sheriff's department on a couple of its most troubling missing-persons cases. As she studies old evidence to pull out a few tenuous new leads, she unearths surprising connections. One way or another, she knows Gabriel Thane and his family will be key to the answers she seeks. "The mysteries explored in the story are nuanced and their resolutions surprising...The interplay of the characters is fascinating and sets up some intriguing scenarios for future installments." -- RT Book Reviews"Henderson's well-developed cast of supporting characters includes a few recognizable names from her previous novels...Leaving as many mysteries in limbo as solved, Henderson ends this story with plenty of fodder for future installments." --Publishers Weekly "The combin