The Taken - Inger Ash Wolfe

Well you may remember me raving about Inger Ash Wolfe's first book - The Calling. (If not - here's my review) Trust me - I raved and I've been waiting for the sequel.

The Taken again features OPS (Ontario Police Services) Detective Inspector Hazel Micallef. When the novel opens we find her recovering from surgery for the back injury that plagued her in the last book. Hazel is recuperating in her ex-husband Andrew's basement, likes her pain medication a little too much and has Andrew's new wife looking after her.

Second in command Detective Constable James Wingate comes to visit her and to try to entice her back to work. The local paper is running it's annual serialized summer novel. This year the story starts off with a body literally fished out of the lake. But the local detachment gets an actual call - local fisherman have reported a body snagged on their lines. When the body is recovered, a cryptic clue leads to yet another puzzle. And the next part of the serialized novel isn't so fictional any longer.

Micallef is pulled back into heading up the Port Dundas detachment. Is she really solving the case or is she being led along the path a killer wants her to take?

The plotting is intricate and devious. Just when I thought I had things figured out, the story takes yet another unexpected twist and changes yet again. I love it when I can't solve the crime!

What I love just as much is the character of Micallef. She is an utterly original protagonist. Sixty two years old, irascible, still in love with her ex, battling addiction, dedicated and a heck of a cop. She follows her intuition, not always the rules. Sometimes that's not the best decision.

"She realized she had accepted this, no matter the danger it posed her, or the rules it broke. Her hunger to know the rest of the story was greater than her sense of self-preservation."

Just a fantastic read - even better that it's set in Canada. How fun to read and relate to Timmy's double doubles, Loblaws and G2 licences!

Another page turner, one that I devoured in two days.....I'll be waiting for number three.......
Highly recommended and a five star read for me.

*** Shortcovers is offering a free download of The Calling until November 17th!***