Jo Donovan, widow of a famous author and now a successful literary agent, is living her dream in New York City, far from her hardscrabble Appalachian childhood. But when an overeager client styling himself "Sam Spade" begins stalking Jo and a dozen of her clients fall victim to a hacker's scam, her meticulously ordered life starts to crumble. After a friend and client is murdered, Jo finally goes to the police--where the officer assigned to her case is her former love, Tommy Cullen.
Barbara Rogan (Hindsight; Suspicion) provides a fascinating glimpse into the New York publishing world, though readers interested in the industry may wish for more details. A cast of likable supporting characters rallies to support Jo, though Rogan keeps readers guessing by giving several of them motive for murder. (Jo gets her best advice from Max, a six-foot FBI profiler turned thriller writer, and her best protection from Mingus, a retired SWAT team German shepherd that becomes her bodyguard.)
Gradually, Rogan reveals details of Jo's past, highlighting the disparity between her polished public image and the harsher, messier reality. As the killer closes in, Jo must confront not only her stalker and his obsession, but the complicated truth of her own quest for security and love--and the people she may have hurt in the process.
Fast-paced and witty, full of deftly drawn characters, Rogan's literary mystery introduces a tough but compassionate heroine and an entertaining new series. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams