Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Sunny Randall’s absentee landlady and former client wants her help again with an unusual case whose complications grow steadily deeper. Bestselling novelists like Melanie Joan Hall are accused of plagiarism all the time, but it’s generally by self-identified victims out for some sort of restitution. MJ is disquieted because an anonymous note has identified her as a plagiarist without threatening anything in particular—and that may be the greatest threat of all. “For a writer, this is like being MeToo’ed,” she tells Sunny. Fearful that her career is under siege, she wants to know who’s behind it all. Sunny, who’s already running interference between her father, retired cop Phil Randall, and powerful Boston attorney Joe Doyle, whose drug lord son has just died in prison years after Phil incurred Doyle’s wrath by arresting him, is anything but eager to take MJ’s case. But the murder of Richard Gross, MJ’s attorney and manager, ups the stakes. So does Sunny’s meeting with MJ’s second ex-husband, psychotherapist Dr. John Melvin, who stalked and nearly killed MJ in Shrink Rap (2002) before he was convicted and imprisoned. Melvin’s clearly as bent on revenge as ever, but the more Sunny looks around, the wider the pool of candidates grows. Eventually the trail leads to professor Charles Hall, who taught MJ writing and a few other things at Whitesboro College. Now old and suffering from dementia, he’s transfixed by his first sight of Sunny, whom he clearly mistakes for someone else before he withdraws even more completely from the world. Who did he think she was, and what secrets is MJ hiding that could endanger both herself and Sunny? Behind the overgrown subplots is a fleet and absorbing tale of crime and endless punishment. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Sunny Randalls absentee landlady and former client wants her help again with an unusual case whose complications grow steadily deeper.Bestselling novelists like Melanie Joan Hall are accused of plagiarism all the time, but its generally by self-identified victims out for some sort of restitution. MJ is disquieted because an anonymous note has identified her as a plagiarist without threatening anything in particularand that may be the greatest threat of all. For a writer, this is like being MeTooed, she tells Sunny. Fearful that her career is under siege, she wants to know whos behind it all. Sunny, whos already running interference between her father, retired cop Phil Randall, and powerful Boston attorney Joe Doyle, whose drug lord son has just died in prison years after Phil incurred Doyles wrath by arresting him, is anything but eager to take MJs case. But the murder of Richard Gross, MJs attorney and manager, ups the stakes. So does Sunnys meeting with MJs second ex-husband, psychotherapist Dr. John Melvin, who stalked and nearly killed MJ in Shrink Rap (2002) before he was convicted and imprisoned. Melvins clearly as bent on revenge as ever, but the more Sunny looks around, the wider the pool of candidates grows. Eventually the trail leads to professor Charles Hall, who taught MJ writing and a few other things at Whitesboro College. Now old and suffering from dementia, hes transfixed by his first sight of Sunny, whom he clearly mistakes for someone else before he withdraws even more completely from the world. Who did he think she was, and what secrets is MJ hiding that could endanger both herself and Sunny?Behind the overgrown subplots is a fleet and absorbing tale of crime and endless punishment. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.