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Korean-American PI Juniper Song returns in Steph Cha's third novel. This time, the wily Song has been hired by an overprotective parent to watch over the surrogate who's carrying her baby. The surrogate (her cousin) has been behaving strangely and has been stressed out by the disappearance of her best friend, an Armenian-American activist.
Lusig, the surrogate, has been trying to conduct her own investigation into her missing friend, Nora. Nora is a blogger who frequently writes about the Armenian community and lately she's enflamed some people who don't want to see the new memorial to the Armenian genocide erected in a local Los Angeles neighborhood park.
Lusig suspects something serious has happened to her friend, but being eight months pregnant with her cousin's child has hampered her search into the mystery. Meanwhile the mother-to-be, Rubina (Lusig's cousin) is worried for the health and safety of the birth of the soon-to-arrive baby boy. Rubina hires Song first to follow Lusig and later to delve into the mystery in an attempt to get Lusig to calm down and rest.
Once Juniper Song begins investigating the missing girl, things begin to get more dangerous but potentially more complicated and interesting as well. And, surprisingly, they lead to a potential new love interest (an unemployed lawyer) for Song. Things heat up, new factors are introduced as Song works the case, and the story gets more complicated and more personal for the Armenian family.
This is a fast-paced mystery with interesting characters and back story. The only flaw in the entire book comes near the end, when Song is threatened by two thugs who intend to kill her (and then don't). It
just doesn't pass the sniff test. However, if readers can overlook this, they'll find a book very much worth reading.
§ Christine Zibas is a freelance writer and former director of publications for a Chicago nonprofit.
Reviewed by Christine Zibas, August 2015
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