Laurie S. (LaurieS) reviewed on 6/15/2011 + 504 more book reviews

This book centers on a small town in Florida that seems to draw single mom's running from their past. They all know each other in a vague sort of way. They know each other in a superficial way but they keep their secrets to themselves. Until one of them is murdered, that is.

Lucy's young, troubled son Keith (12 going on 18) turns up missing, along with the murdered woman's baby. This brings her closer to officer Julian who is a bit of an enigma. He believes he's ugly and relates better to his canine companions than to people. If this were written by another author I'd expect the two to track down the missing kids and fall into a blissfull love affair but it's a Hoffmann novel and her stories are more complicated and melancholy.

Keith discovers finds the baby who was the target of a kidnapping and instinctively knows she's in trouble. He decides to hide with her in the nearby wilderness since he was about to run away anyway.

This book, like the others I've read by Hoffmann, focuses more on its offbeat characters than it does the mystery and that's fine by me. It's bittersweet and doesn't go where you expect it to.

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