Out at Night, by Susan Arnout Smith (HarperCollins, RRP $34.99):
This is the second book in the Grace Descanso series. Unlike so many other sequels, instead of taking place a comfortable month or two down the track, this one opens the very day after the last book (the compellingly nasty The Timer Game) finished.
After coming to terms with the return of her daughter’s father, and as she watches her daughter Katie begin to bond with this man who until so recently had been a stranger, CSI Detective Grace Descanso is pulled back into work.
History professor Thaddeus Bartholomew left a message on his own answering machine as he lay dying in a field. The message drags Grace into a world of activism, environmental terrorism and violence.
If you get the chance, read the The Timer Game before you delve into this book or you’ll occasionally get a little distracted by some of the complexities of Grace’s life.
However, it’s still a gripping story in its own right and will keep you guessing all the way to the end.