When a young girl is kidnapped by her convict father, Michael, the police turn out in force to rally around her stepfather who is also a policeman. However a mysterious phone call brings in Dedra Kare, known as the Clue Queen for solving mysteries. When she and the police arrive at the house, they find the mother and the girl’s twin sister in a state. Her new husband Wendal is missing, but Dedra recognises him as someone she suspected of being corrupt. After talking to the child, Dedra finds out that Michael has been sneaking around the house and that the girls are being badly mistreated by their parents. Taking action, Dedra sets up a game of hide and seek and finds evidence of illegal activities, only to find that the young girl is also missing.

This is a short cozy mystery story, the second in the series, which is ideal for someone looking for a quick coffee break read. The plot is quickly sketched out, but leaves plenty of clues for a sharp eyed reader to pick up on. While there could be a lot of assumed back story that someone should know, yes it may help to read the others stories, there is enough background to understand where the characters are coming from. There is not as much mystery in this story as you might be expecting, the story is linear and the resolutions come very quickly, but it does have a clever ending and a neat explanation of what did happen. The characters are fairly stereotypical with only a few of them having more depth, but for such a short story it should be expected.

I did enjoy reading it. The writing kept the pace moving and it felt as if a lot happened, even in such a quick story. I didn’t see any grammar or spelling mistakes to take me out of the story and it was well formatted although I could have done without the pictures of all the stories in the series at the front of the book. Although the front cover does give the impression that she has turned up a little under-dressed for a police enquiry in the middle of the night.

Overall, it’s a good, quick, read with a neat explanation at the end. If you enjoy the story, there are several others to enjoy as well.