You can run, but you can’t hide. Janice Cantore’s “Drawing Fire” is a fast-paced initiation into her new cold case series, featuring Abby Hart, a Long Beach homicide investigator whose goal is finding justice for the dead and closure and assurance for their families.
Trying to close a couple different open homicides, Abby also has her own personal cold case to solve — her parents were murdered 27 years ago at their Triple Seven restaurant and the killers were never found.
Luke Murphy is a private investigator whom Abby initially finds cocky, but slowly grows to trust — especially when she learns of his personal connection to the Triple Seven murders. While trying to solve that same cold case, Luke is also searching for a missing teen girl.
Will Abby’s current cases and Luke’s missing girls having anything to do with each other? And will any of them be tied to the 27-year-old cold case?
Cantore, who is a retired Long Beach police officer herself, keeps the story moving along and keeps the reader guessing. Her police experience is evident, making the plot seem quite plausible. She managed to drop some major bombs throughout the story that you’ll never see coming.
Besides being a great suspense story, “Drawing Fire” contains several great themes to ponder — the role of prayer; dealing with life’s “hard blessings”; obsession, and its impact on our trust in God; forgiveness; and remembering that only God knows the heart.
The book satisfactorily solves all cases involved in the storyline, but still leaves some questions unanswered for the next book. Also left to be seen: will Abby stay with her fiance Ethan, or perhaps pursue a relationship with Luke? I can’t wait to see where Abby’s and Luke’s stories will take them in “Burning Proof.”
Five stars out of five.
“Drawing Fire” (Cold Case Justice series, #1) by Janice Cantor