Lisa Harris: Missing

By Kelly Bridgewater

Nikki Boyd Enters the Deadly World of Counterfeit Drugs to Find a Missing Woman

Nikki Boyd isn't usually called in on homicides; her forte is missing persons. But when a case with two murdered and two missing pops up on a quiet suburban street, she's ready to start the investigation and find missing homeowners Mac and Lucy Hudson. When the first clues lead her to the boat of her friend Tyler Grant--and another dead body--Nikki must untangle what ties Tyler to the Hudsons. The clues pull her into a deadly maze of counterfeit drugs and a killer who will stop at nothing to silence anyone who threatens his business--including Nikki.

From Amazon

My Review:

Romantic suspense is a great genre because of the non-stop action usually featuring a cop, marine, detective, etc . .  who is trying to solve a crime or murder. In Lisa Harris' second installment to her Nikki Boyd Files Missing, I am taken on a ride to hunt for Lucy Hudson, a kindergarten teacher who is missing. Harris understands what a romantic suspense should have, and Missing completes all those requirements.

First, there has to be a suspenseful action that takes the story through the pages. In Missing, Nikki, the detective who works for the missing person unit, needs to find Lucy Hudson before the bad guys. I enjoyed following Nikki with her partner Jack as they try to follow the trail of clues to see what happened to Lucy's husband Mac and where Lucy went. I really enjoyed coming back to Nashville to a familiar setting that Harris used in the first book. It was comforting and helped cement me to the story right away. Missing is definitely a hard book to put down. With the amount of research Harris went into to make the action believable, I did not have a hard time believing what she wrote. When Nikki did something, I believed that was what most detectives do when trying to solve a case.

I really enjoyed reading the romance in Missing. In the first book Vendetta, I learned about the feelings Nikki has toward Tyler, but Harris doesn't make them fall in love by the first book's end. In the second installment, a similar romance occurs. It is not tidy and wrapped up in a bow by the end of Missing. Just like in real life. So much better.

While the idea for Missing is really not that original, I do like how Harris executed the storyline. It had many twists that I did not see coming. For instance, I did not figure out who the bad guy was. I had a suspicion early on, but Harris went another direction. Now that it what I call writing a good story.

In true romantic suspense fashion, Lisa Harris crafted together a story with the right amount of research, a tenseful plot, and a romance that left me begging for the next book. I really can't wait to see the next book in the Nikki Boyd Files. 

I received a complimentary copy of Missing from Revell Publishing and the opinions stated are all my own. 

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Would you read a romantic suspense novel where the romance is not tied up in the first book, but allows you to be dragged through the series, waiting to see how the romance is played out?