Rating: 4 stars (Spotlight Review)
Cleveland forensic specialist Evelyn James is back in the sequel to Trace Evidence and although her job hasn't changed, the rest of her life is a little...busy. Dealing with a sullen teenage daughter, Angel, and a will-they-or-won't-they romance with a homicide detective is just the tip of the iceberg.
Unknown Means does not waste any time shoving the reader right into the action, putting Evelyn in a posh kitchen with the posed remains of affluent Grace Markham. Strangled with mesh webbing, strapped down to the dining room chair. Given the residence of the Markhams is in a secure building with the only entrance being an elevator and secure access codes...it's not exactly the usual crime scene. It's a locked-room mystery. Problematic, to say the least.
To add misery to her day, she's paged to investigate a salt mine explosion, the building leading to the mine a mere two-minute walk from her current location. A disaster, but in more ways than one. Evie is a little claustrophobic. And the mine is 1,200 feet underground...under Lake Erie. And the only way down is a rusty elevator (being claustrophobic myself, the thought makes my throat close up and having gazed across the frozen landscape of Lake Erie? Oh dear.)
However, her day isn't over and the worst is yet to come. At 2:16am her phone jangles her awake, only to hear an ER doctor saying that Marissa, fellow coworker and best friend, has been attacked in her parking garage. The same parking garage attached to the same building where Grace Markham lived. In fact, Marissa and her fiancée had just moved into the building.
As the story plays out, the mystery only deepens when yet another attack is made on Marissa -- in her hospital room. And another dead body is found....
That's all you get, readers. Any more and it would ruin an excellent mystery.
Having read Trace Evidence, I had very high hopes for the long-awaited sequel. I was not disappointed. Not only does Becka weave an intricate mystery, but also has quite a talent for weaving in the Cleveland atmosphere (living a few miles away, I have high expectations on that score.) The pace is rapid fire, and the mystery? Good luck trying to solve it midstream. With all the twists and turns, it kept me on my toes the entire way. Add to it a very down-to-earth, engaging hero and an excellent secondary cast, this sequel really works.
I hope this is not the last time I'll see Evelyn James. Elizabeth Becka's storytelling skills are top-notch and not to be missed by fans of crime fiction.
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Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Hyperion (February 5, 2008)
ISBN-10: 1401301754
ISBN-13: 978-1401301750