Member Review

I know I’m reading a good thriller when I’m not reading the book. I’m replaying the plot in my mind, analyzing and over-analyzing characters to try and get a step ahead.

I could not stop thinking about Gone For Good by Joanna Schaffhausen. Like the amateur sleuths in the book, I was trying to find every possible clue, eliminating potential suspects, and connecting the dots to solve this complicated mess.

There’s so much to unpack. The Lovelorn Killer cold case stalled unsolved for decades - so why did they start again? Many cop families are involved, both personally and professionally. Add in a social media group of amateur sleuths who get in way over their heads as they race to solve the case before the police. That’s plenty for Detective Annalisa Vega to handle, but throw her first love (and victim’s son) and her new partner (and ex-husband), and she’s dealing with more knots than the killer’s ties on his victims. Speaking of victims, guess which female detective is the next victim being stalked?

I couldn’t escape this book when I wasn’t reading it and kept trying to unravel the clues and settle on a suspect. Be prepared to uncover the killer, change your mind, and kick yourself at the end for how close you had been to solving it yourself. Schaffausen does a great job presenting the evidence while posing the right questions that keep the reader guessing. Most importantly, she crafts an ending that ties up loose ends and makes sense.

I can’t stop impatiently wondering when the next Annalisa Vega mystery will be published.