Gerrie Ferris Finger is One to Watch

Over the weekend I tackled my TBR stack and actually made quite of bit of progress. One of the books that jumped out at me was Gerrie Ferris Finger's The End Game, her mystery debut and winner of the Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition hosted by St. Martins/Minotaur each year.

In The End Game, former cop Moriah Dru has left the Atlanta PD to start a private investigations firm focused on locating missing kids. Child Trace has been gaining attention thanks to Dru's efforts and this is what gets her called in on a disturbing new case: Two sisters are missing after their foster parents are killed in a devastating house fire. With the suspect list growing as each minute passes - a convicted child molester in the neighborhood, a land-hungry landlord next door, reports that the kids were seen talking to "Santa" the day before they went missing, and many, many more - Dru and her partner on the case, Detective Rick Lake, have their jobs cut out for them.

I really enjoyed this book. Gerrie Ferris Finger has a style and tone that bring to mind dark classics of the genre and her subject is both timely and disturbing. (As she's pointed out in this post, however, most of the violence is "off screen," so to speak.) Personally, I prefer the mix of this tougher style with traditional characteristics. It results in a story that can appeal to cozy fans while still having a harder edge that appeals to readers like me. I really enjoyed Moriah Dru and Rick Lake. I thing Ferris Finger has built some fantastic characters here and I'm hoping there are future Child Trace mysteries to come. There's certainly big series potential here.

The End Game was released on April 27. For more on Gerrie and The End Game visit her official page here.