I Wish You Missed Me

September 21, 2015
This solid series launch from Hill (Last Words) introduces Kit Doyle, a California talk-radio host who specializes in trying to solve unsolved crimes. One case continues to rankle Kit and her on-air partner, Gnarly Farley: the murder of Alex Brantingham, the member of a prominent local family. Both partners are frustrated by a lack of evidence in the case, despite a suspect, Frank Vera, under arrest. Kit is determined to uncover the truth, especially after an anonymous caller insists that Vera is innocent. Meanwhile, the sudden death of Kit’s mother, who has left behind a secret letter with a bombshell, turns her life upside down. Kit finds herself in the middle of a personal mystery she must solve at all costs—even if it means putting aside her work and possibly losing her job. Realistic characters and a fast-paced plot are a plus, but multiple story arcs vie for the reader’s attention—at the expense of Kit’s own story. Agent: Laura Dail, Laura Dail Literary Agency.

October 1, 2015
A letter from her dead mother is a game-changer for a true-crime radio host and blogger. Although Kit Doyle leads a KWEL Radio show about true crime with on-air partner Farley Black, she never expected her own life to turn into one of the stories. But when her otherwise healthy mother dies suddenly, a note she leaves for Kit changes everything, and now Kit doesn't know whom or what to trust. Although she wants to turn to her father and radio mentor, the Mighty Mick Doyle, it seems as if he's known the truth the whole time. Even worse, Kit's soon-to-be ex-husband, Richard, may have known more about Kit's life than she ever did. Now Kit's stuck trying to fit the pieces around the single name that supposedly holds the key to her past: Kendra Trafton. Since Kit, an active blogger, apparently doesn't know about Google, Farley lets Kit use their show to try to find Kendra. Kit and Farley worry that the money backing their show, supplied by the Brantingham family in the hope of solving their son Alex's murder, will dry up if they switch to Kit's story. Kit figures a reasonable course of action is to solve Alex's murder herself, but the Brantinghams close ranks as closely as her own family. Then the radio station gets a lead on Kendra's whereabouts, and Kit's co-worker and friend Tamera Flowers offers to catch a flight and meet with the supposed informant. Kit's woes are interwoven with the story of Rena Pace, a friend of Kendra's who's in a mess of a marriage and just trying to get by. Long before the stories come together, Hill (Last Words, 2014, etc.), by juxtaposing two seemingly unrelated plot strands, gives away the mystery. Simple to understand and clearly, if unimaginatively, written, this series debut offers a protagonist with a lot to learn.

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November 1, 2015

Kit Doyle's mother is a perfectly healthy 50-year-old woman, so when she dies unexpectedly, the day after telling her daughter to read the letter in the safe, Kit isn't sure what to expect. The letter's content will change her life: Kit was adopted, and her birth mother is named Kendra Trafton. Kit, who hosts a radio show and writes a crime blog, begins to peel away the layers to find Kendra. Meanwhile, we meet Kendra, who is a healer in Arizona. The plot alternates chapters between Kit's search in California and Kendra's life in Arizona. VERDICT YA and suspense author Hearn (Last Words) debuts a new series with an intriguing premise and an intricate plot. The connections are a little difficult to figure out but come together at the end.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2015
Kit Doyle blogs and hosts a radio talk show about unsolved crimes in Sacramento. While visiting her perfectionist mother in Seattle, she is disconcerted to learn that there is a letter in her mother's safe to be opened, her mother instructs, only if anything should happen to me. Kit chalks it up to her mom's flare for the dramatic, but the next day, her mother dies. The mysterious letter contains information that changes everything that Kit thought was true about her background. Her estranged father adds information that only further compounds the mystery. With some help from friends at her radio station, Kit searches for information about her mother's past while trying to keep her job. Although the soap-opera elements in the story lend a bit too much melodrama, this first in a series combines an engaging mystery with some of the appeal of women's fiction.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

January 16, 2017
Hill’s harrowing third Kit Doyle mystery (after 2016’s Goodbye Forever) finds Kit, a former crime blogger and radio talk show host based in Sacramento, Calif., who’s now a seeker of missing persons, suffering from the traumatic residue of her last case—dizziness, anxiety attacks, depression, and what may be paranoia. Is she really being followed? Is she overreacting? When Farley Black, her best friend and former radio co-host, goes missing, Kit manages to pull herself together, determined to locate him. Fortunately, she’s joined in this quest by her street-smart friend, Virgie, whose breaking-and-entering skills come in handy as the duo follow the signal from Farley’s phone toward a rural area on the Redwood Highway close to Mendocino. What Kit finds there makes her question her ideas about friendship, loyalty, and love in this intense installment. Agent: Laura Dail, Laura Dail Literary Agency.

February 15, 2017
The disappearance of a friend sends a former radio host on a road trip from which she promises she won't return without him.Kit Doyle is shocked when her former radio co-host, Farley Black, doesn't show up for a surfing trip to Malibu with Monique, his new girlfriend. But she's not worried until Farley's new radio partner, ex-cop John Paul, suggests that something just isn't right. Kit shares her newfound concerns with Virgie Logan, a casual friend she's met while volunteering at a local Sacramento shelter. Though the last thing Kit wants is to involve Virgie in even vaguely criminal activity, Virgie insists that the two break into Farley's house to look for clues. Their mission leads them on a road trip to look into Farley's friendships and an investigation into whether Farley left willingly or was kidnapped or worse. The adventures of Kit and Virgie on the road are interspersed with the tale of Megan and Will, a couple with a troubled relationship and a secret that keeps them together. As the two stories converge, it becomes clear that Farley may be in grave danger and that Kit's the only one dogged enough to save him whatever the cost. Hill's heroine (Goodbye Forever, 2016, etc.) is a poor example of show-not-tell in a road story that just doesn't generate the interest that it needs.

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