Alice Bienia

Jorja Knight always makes for a fantastic read. She is an investigator I thoroughly enjoy reading. In this story, she's in Istanbul and her bestie, Gabs, is missing. The author does a wonderful job of taking us on a mysterious adventure through the city. Jorja is following every lead she can. I don't know how she's not creeped out when her room is gone through.There are twists and turns through the story along with colorful characters that makes this an amazing adventure. A story I definitely recommend for mystery lovers.… (más)

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

Jorja is a PI in Calgary, who is employed to find out if an elderly woman's nephew Stan might have emigrated to Canada after WWII. Jorja quickly discovers that he did, but that he is already dead. She also discovers that he left a son, Johnnie, who has had problems with addiction. Jorja looks for him in the homeless shelters in Calgary and her investigations lead her to a man who may or may not be Johnnie.

I thought this was strong on the Calgary setting and also on the depiction of homeless people as individuals with values and loyalties as well as issues and difficulties. I was initially amused by the problematic vehicles Jorja kept renting, but this got old after a while. My main criticism of this book would be that it just went on too long: there were too many homeless men for Jorja to pay for information, too many attempts on her life, too many repetitions of the 'is John Johnnie?' puzzle, too many bodies and ultimately too many loose ends. I didn't particularly warm to Jorja, who came with the customary tragic backstory...… (más)