Umpteenth in the series about PI Kinsey Milhone. In this one, she's employed by a rich man to babysit his daughter Reba, when she's released from prison after serving time for embezzlement. Kinsey makes friends with Reba, and soon finds out that the reason Reba went to prison isn't quite as straightforward as it first appeared. It turns out Reba took the fall for her boss, with whom she was having an affair, because he'd promised a new life for them both when she was freed. But it seems that the boss is most definitely not to be trusted.

I think I must have read about the first five of these books when they first came out, and they were OK. I suppose she's done well to keep it up for twenty odd books, but I don't think there's really enough meat to sustain this one as a good novel in its own right. In a way it was quite reminiscent of Sarah Peretsky, but although this book also had quite a lot of non-plot-related stuff (domestic triva about her own personal life and that of her landlord), it wasn't as annoying as that. Milhone seems a bit more vulnerable and unsure of herself than Warshawsky, and so although it wasn't very gripping, it wasn't irritating to read.

But the pace was very slow. Perhaps the themes that run through the series make it more interesting if you'd read all of the books, but it felt like it was just too drawn out. So I don't think I'll bother with any more.

Completed : 13-Jun-2006 (audiobook)