What stops this from getting 5 stars is the open=-ended story lines: How did Ethan end up next to the victim? What happened with Siggy and Peter and Mia? A few too many story lines that weren't fully developed and probably should have been a separate book. ( )

Where has Ellen Hart been all my life? I finished The Mortal Groove and was very pleasantly surprised to find a new author to feel at home with. This Jane Lawless mystery combines some of the themes I've been reading about lately: workaholic restaurateurs who are so ambitious they leave little time for romantic relationships (in spite of their conscious longing for them), the value placed on ambition over human sensitivity, the effects on a mother of surrendering a child for adoption, lost children, politics, the life changing effects of impersonal violence, the solace of friendship, the love of family. I very much liked the fact that it's not only women who are the victim of violence. Obviously this is a book written by a woman. I like Ellen Hart's characters very much, except perhaps the wacky sidekick, Cordelia. Usually I love the lovable sidekick as I am supposed to, but Cordelia is too stereotypically narcissistic for my tastes. I thought this was the last in the Jane Lawless series, but, seeing that it's not, I've ordered a couple of the follow ups. I need to find out if Jane's dad becomes governor of Minnesota. ( )