MYSTERY

Painted Skins

by Matt Hilton
Severn House. Dec. 2016. 256p. ISBN 9780727886507. $28.99; ebk. ISBN 9781780108162. M
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Because Jasmine Reed is a perpetual runaway, the Portland, ME, police are less than interested when her grandmother reports her missing. Margaret Norris hires private investigators Tess Gray and Nicholas "Po" Villere to find Jasmine, yet several other people in Portland are also searching for her, including the man who harmed her years ago. But Jasmine disappeared before he hit town, so who could be responsible? As Tess investigates, she uncovers other missing young women, all scarred or tattooed or marked in some way. Where have they all gone? Introduced in Blood Tracks, Tess and Po are memorable protagonists. Tess was a police officer who now works as a private investigator. Po is Cajun and left Louisiana after serving time in Angola Prison. Both sleuths have backgrounds ripe for further development.
VERDICT The Maine setting brings to mind the mysteries of Paul Doiron, but this is much more of a thriller with some brutal overtones, more in the vein of Taylor Stevens's "Vanessa Michael Munroe" series.
Reviewed by Viccy Kemp , Nov 01, 2016
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