I think at some point in their lives everyone has wanted to be an FBI agent-at least I have! But it is the romanticized version that we see on TV or in the movies that attracts us, not the drudgery or the way being an agent exposes you to the worst things people can do to each other. Masterman’s breaks all the rules for FBI agents starring in a series, first by giving us a woman who is 59 years old as the main character and then by stripping away the glamour of being an agent by revealing how difficult it is to have relationships or to try to forget the violence and inhumanity you have seen.

Brigid Quinn, 59 years old, is trying remake her life with her new husband and two dogs in Tuscon, Arizona. She is still trying to cope with some of the things she saw while bringing sexual predators to justice, but now that she has been put out to pasture for taking a few too many short cuts, Quinn is hoping that her new life will be an antidote to the horror that she has seen throughout her career. It is a good life, rock collecting in the desert near their home, learning how to cook-she has 5 recipes to her repertoire, and watching movies or just reading together companionably on the porch in the late afternoon.  It was all going very well until she got a call from an FBI agent who wanted her advice on a case that Quinn had not been able to solve some years ago. Then some guy tries to kidnap Quinn while she was rock hunting near her home. Slowly Quinn realizes that the two incidents are intertwined and that maybe she has been given one more chance to solve the case that she was never able to solve; a case that involved her protege, Jessica who was killed trying to catch an illusive sexual predator.

Masterman has created a great character in Quinn. Resilient, vulnerable, gutsy and compelling, Quinn is someone you want to know.  Additionally, Masterman has not stinted on the other characters, from her husband who seems far removed from the rough and tumble of Quinn’s life as an agent or the local sheriff who suspects that Quinn knows more than she is saying about the man they found dead in his van not far from Quinn’s home. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it gave me hope that more books will be written with main characters who are my age who are interesting and compelling!

Brenda’s Rating: **** (4 out of 5 Stars)

Recommend this book to: Sharon and Marian

Book Study worthy? Not really, just enjoy!

Read in ebook format.