Without a Word--A Rachel Alexander Mystery

by: Carol Lea Benjamin

Published by: Avon Books

By Kathy Perschmann, Chanhassen (MN) Librarian

Author Benjamin, a former detective and dog trainer, lives in Greenwich Village with her three dogs.

Rachel Alexander also lives in Greenwich Village, and is a P.I. with a four-footed assistant, Dashiell, a rescued pit bull. Rachel is in the park dog run when she is approached by an inarticulate stranger who wants to hire her to find his wife who has been missing for five years. She went out to walk the family dog and never returned.

Rachel is hesitant to take the case until she meets the missing woman's daughter, 12-year-old Madison. Shortly after her mother disappeared, Madison was diagnosed with a nervous tic, and she has not spoken since. She is a very real suspect in the murder of her pediatric neurologist as she was the last patient of the day--and he was killed with the syringe meant for her.

Rachel cannot stand to think of the poor girl being railroaded into the role of chief suspect, and she sets out to find the missing mother, if she is still alive, and also to learn who really murdered the doctor.

Rachel is good both with dogs and also with lonely, traumatized and abandoned girls as she was once one herself. Through a trail of altered medical records, lies and deceit, and another murder, Rachel follows like a dog following a scent, until she discovers the truth.

This is the eighth book in the series, and every bit as gripping as the first seven. The next book, The Hard Way, comes out in October 2006.

Armchair Interviews says: Dog, detectives and hurting daughters make for a good read.