A Book A Week

Last year, I encountered and was delighted by the novel, The Stranger You Seek by Amanda Kyle Williams. Williams introduced the crime fighting detective, Keye Street, an Asian American, recovering alcoholic, female private investigator, raised by her adopted family in Atlanta, Georgia. Street was a refreshing addition to the female protagonist sub-genre of mysteries. Combining her quirky sense of humor with a startling mystery, Williams struck gold with her first novel.

In this second installment in the Keye Street series, we find Street getting on with her life, after the events of the previous novel. The high profile of her last case has lead to increased business for her private investigation firm, so much so that she and her stoner tech guy Niel are working harder than ever before. Her relationship with A.P.D. Lieutenant Aaron Rauser is slowly becoming more serious, and life seems to be in a good place.

When Keye receives a terrified call from her cousin, Miki, about an intruder in her home, she is skeptical of her accusations. The police on the scene find no evidence of an intrusion, and, given Miki's history of drug abuse and mental illness, Keye humors her cousins claims, but has no real intention to find anything. On top of this, she is investigating a strange case for a family who received an urn of chicken feed and concrete mix instead of their dead mother's ashes. Keye and Niel travel to the small town, ironically named Big Knob, to investigate this strange event. As they did deeper they uncover a shocking conspiracy that is sure to shock the small town.

Miki's claims become validated when a corpse, fitting the patterns of a sting of murders being investigated by Aaron Rauser, is discovered in her apartment. Even worse, the killer has set his sights on Miki and Keye as his next victims. The novel takes a "cat and mouse" turn as Keye races to discover the identity of the murder before he catches up to her.

Author Amanda Kyle Williams continues to expertly mix her quirky sensibilities with hear racing suspense in this followup novel. Keye Street is the kind of character that you instantly fall for and root for the entire novel. The story moves quick and consistently provides shocking twits and turns, keeping the reader thoroughly entertained. I felt that the resolution to this one was a bit too neat, but this novel is definitely worth the read.

For more information, visit the author's website http://amandakylewilliams.com/,
Amazon http://www.amazon.com/review/RIM4D5J4ADPJD/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm,
and http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13269085-stranger-in-the-room.

(week 37, book 41)