No Forwarding Address

B.J. Busch is Associate Librarian (Access and Information Services) at
the University of Alberta.

Meg Lacey, private investigator, doesn’t do adult missing-persons
cases. Her philosophy is that adults don’t get lost, unless they are
dead. And in that case, the police are much better at finding them.
However, when Vicky Fischer seeks assistance in finding her missing
sister, Sherry Hovey, there seem to be two compelling reasons to take
the case—Sherry is mentally ill, and she has taken her four-year-old
son, Mark, with her. As Meg tracks Sherry’s movements, finding and
losing her again on the dark side of Vancouver, she discovers brick
walls and pieces to the puzzle that do not fit. Then murder rears its
ugly head, not once but twice. As the finale approaches, Meg finds
herself caught in a web of terror, which grips the reader right up to
the last page.

This is Bowers’s second Meg Lacey novel; and, true to form, it is
every bit as engrossing. Lacey is a forthright, dedicated professional
with a strong, compassionate streak. Her droll, sometimes
self-deprecating humor provides a delightful dose of whimsy in a society
that takes itself far too seriously. Stylistically, the work is superbly
crafted, with wonderfully descriptive similes (e.g., an elderly woman
resembles an old soccer ball; suspects are added to the list at the last
minute like a sales tax at the cash register; a sour stomach bubbles and
seethes like a bread dough sponge). A compelling read, this book is hard
to put down.