Sandra Jones, a married middle school teacher and mother of a four-year old daughter, disappears in the middle of the night while her husband, Jason, is working on an assignment. He’s a reporter and returns home to find his wife missing and his sleeping daughter alone. Sergeant D. D. Warren is asked to help with the case and quickly determines that something is “off” with this family. Meanwhile, one of the neighbors has critical information but is reluctant to come forward because of his own personal history.
This is the first story in the series where Sergeant Warren (she’s quick to correct if you refer to her as Detective) is featured as a main character. Her instincts about the Joneses being something other than they appeared are dead on but she’s dead wrong about the “what.” She quickly sets Jason in her sights, believing he is responsible for Sandra’s disappearance. We’re treated to multiple points of view, which made this a much more interesting story. The main narratives were from Sandra, Jason, D. D. and the neighbor. Aside from D. D., none of the others could be considered reliable. Untangling what happened that night while unraveling Sandra and Jason’s histories was an intriguing challenge and I was hooked into figuring it out.
I listened to this story and loved that multiple performers were used, especially since the story presented multiple points of view. All three delivered strong performances, representing their characters very well and with distinction. This was a gnarly mystery because so many of the principals were hiding explosive secrets. I was a little disappointed in the ending because it seemed to come together too quickly, leaving too many unanswered questions. But, it was revealing and it had a big, unexpected twist. However, I remain unimpressed with D. D. Warren’s investigative skills as she amasses all the right information but assembles them so badly and rushes to judgment. I’m enjoying the series, just not her as the main focus…yet.
Book Info
- Release Date: June 6, 2009
- Series: Detective D. D. Warren #3
- Narrators: Emily Janice Card, Kirby Heyborne & Kirsten Potter
- Audio Length: 13 hours, 29 minutes
- Publisher: Random House Audio
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Blue Mood Café 
Wonderful review! I’m looking for good audiobooks for a 2-hour per day commute, so I’m adding this to the list! x
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Thanks, Meggy💜 This is a great series on audio. Another I’d recommend is Grant County by Karin Slaughter. It’s in the crime/mystery genre and hard to put down. And, the narrator, Kathleen Early, is really good. Listening to these books will make the time disappear.
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A shame you weren’t impressed with the investigative skills of the protagonist, but hopefully that aspect of the series will improve. Great that all the narrators were spot on, I don’t always enjoy performances with multiple narrators. Great review!
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Thanks, Stargazer! Somehow I think the author is framing this character this way purposefully. Time will tell. But, the multiple narrators were great!
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I’ve read this whole series. I think a lot of it in hardcover or PB from the library. It’ always interesting and a bit twisty but it’s more of a 4 heart read than 5 hearts usually. I wonder if that difference is what you talk about as her investigative skills? Fantastic review!!
Anne – Books of My Heart
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Thank you, Anne! None have even come close to 5 stars yet but they’re still good reads. I’m still waiting for Warren to show me something.
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It is ashame you weren’t impressed with her skills yet. Jumping the gun annoys me but you do have me interested in the series.
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It’s a really good series and you can tell it didn’t start out with the intention of D. D. Warren being the main focus.
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I’ve read a few of her books and I always find them entertaining – but a little forgettable. Good review.
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Thanks, Jules💜 They can be slow starts.
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