BookPikks

Sarah Pribeck returns in the sequel to The 37th Hour. On her own and suspected of a crime by her colleagues, Sarah tackles another missing persons case–a runaway teenager. As Sarah searches for the boy, she soon realizes that the case isn’t as straightforward as she thought.

Compton has written another solid book, which I liked even more than her first. A few of the things I appreciate about Compton’s writing:

• Sarah is an interesting, independent character, who tries to do the right thing, but doesn’t always make the best decisions. She’s not the “perfect heroine” that many authors portray, but you get the sense that she’s generally doing the best she can.
• Compton doesn’t sugarcoat the crimes that she writes about, but neither does she dwell in the sex and gore like so many current mystery writers tend to do.
• Compton juggles several mysteries throughout the book, and brings them all to a satisfying conclusion, while leaving plenty of room for future sequels.
• Compton is able to portray both men and women equally well as heroes and villains. Some authors have a definite prejudice against men or women and it shows in their writing.

Sarah Pribeck is a detective in Minneapolis. When her husband goes missing, she knows that she doesn’t have much time to find him. I really enjoyed Compton’s first novel. She weaves her characters’ stories together into a satisfying mystery.