It was like a breath of fresh air, an injection of . . um . . something, when I started this book here. And the story returned to the 'control' of the AKA people. Mostly Jobeth. I enjoy reading Jobeth's sections. She's funny and amusing. I wish some method had been attempted to keep it just told from her point of view because I'm much less interested in the others.

Also, I feel like something got lost when the veil was pulled back and Phoebe's thoughts came to the forefront. I mean, this is the fourth book in the series. Up until a certain percentage complete point in this book, none of her direct point of view was present. And, quite frankly, once her point of view arrived . . . I quite wished it hadn't. So, now, in addition to everything else the story has in it, we now have that tired old cliche of a rich woman who feels inadequate and feels the need to 'do something' to have an impact on life. So. That happened.

I really have no idea how many point of views occurred this time. I don't think POV's shifted mid-chapter before, but that occurred several times in this book. Once someone was thinking about another, I think it might have been Izzy. And called them. They answered. Some talk. Chapter continued . . . from Ginger's point of view. mmphs.

The best parts of this book involved Jobeth. The worst parts? The rehash. I mentioned in my notes for the last book that the police interactions were seen from non-police point-of-views despite having two police officers having POV's elsewhere in the book. Well, their point of view appears this time. As in, the same stuff that happened in the last book? Retold, from the police officer's perspective. Which was a downer.

There's no mystery. Not unless you hadn't read the prior book. There is a lot of new stuff in this book, related directly to the AKA people, but the mystery itself is just the same mystery in the last book, seen from yet another angle. For the most part. There were some more after-effects from rape attacks, and one break in that were not in the prior book. Otherwise, though, nothing new on the mystery front.

The entire thing would have been much better as one book. I realize that the author intended one book, and the side characters got all pushy and stuff, and so she had to tell their story. But still. Make the book be 700 pages then, if that's the case. Or, with some scenes cut, 500 to 600. The book just doesn't work as well cut in half. Especially since this isn't a chronological book. Well, I mean, the events in the last book do not lead to the events in this one. The events in both books happened at the same time. So once you read the last book, you know how everything turns out. I think the only really new thing was the arrival and interaction of Izzy's mother. Oh, and Rosemarie Free(sp?) the battered woman.

This would have been a solid 4 star book, maybe even 4.5 star book if it had just been a completely new book. Without pulling up the mystery from the past. At least if the amount of rehashing was less. Police officer, private investigators deal with multiple cases all the time. Most of the time the other cases get little mention, or, get tied to the main case somehow. This would have been the perfect opportunity to have a 'brand new' mystery to follow, in addition to some 'this is how the mystery in the last book impacted the AKA people' scenes.

Sure, it's nice to see how Ginger handled things during the mystery, I guess, but if the Ginger sections had just involved new aspects of the mystery, that'd have been great. For example, I didn't need to see the scene in the forest again.

Therefore, I cannot give as high a rating as this book might have otherwise deserved. I don't know, this probably might even have been a 4.5 star book if I hadn't read the prior book. Though probably not, since despite my mention of rehashing and the like, I'm not sure if someone who only read this book would understand what the heck the mystery was about. Actually, I'm fairly certain they'd have no clue what the deal with Dr. Bishop was about. I think.

As it is, I give this book 3.5 stars. ( )