Plot or Premise

Diana Gordon has retired from being a private investigator after being shot, and is living the simple life in Port Findlay, Washington running her own photography studio. But a local woman is murdered, and when Gordon finds the body, she can’t resist doing a little personal investigating. And she turns up links to her past and how she got shot — for taking a photograph of someone who didn’t want to be captured.

What I Liked

Diana’s character is relatively straightforward, and it is an interesting cast of sub-characters. Hard to tell if this will be a series or a one-off book, but it works either way. The politics of a photography show provide a nice backdrop, and this would work as almost-cozy, except for a little direct violence in two places.

What I Didn’t Like

Her partner in Port Findlay, Conor Callahan, is a bit neurotic and there is a major change in his perspective by the end of the book. Gordon doesn’t reveal her past to everyone as she goes along, and it is a “secret” that causes problems early on — for no apparent reason as she knows she’s going to have to spill eventually. Equally, the reason the photograph is causing problems is so obvious to the reader, it is grating to see our star investigator proceed through most of the book before figuring it out.

The Bottom Line

A great almost-cozy.