The Dollmaker's Daughters
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
Fifth in the Bo Bradley series, in this psychological thriller Bo reaches out to 15-year-old Janny Malcolm, a foster child found frozen in terror at a popular Goth hangout. An exquisite but battered doll is chained to Janny's wrist. She keeps the doll, called "Kimmy," close at all times, although she doesn't know why. Neither does she know anything about her past. But something has frightened Janny so deeply that, without help, she may retreat into herself. Permanently.
Against all departmental rules, Bo befriends Janny and picks up a 13-year-old trail of child abuse, deceit and murder that may involve Child Protective Services at the highest level. When Bo learns of a grim medical facility and secretly observes a furtive funeral attended by only two people, her investigative instincts lead to a master dollmaker, a reclusive ex-cop and a hidden trail of disturbing secrets.. Even Bo's heightened psychological insight and empathy are nearly, but not quite, foiled by the complex spin surrounding a single, malignant mind.
"Excellent ... a Bach concerto of a read... Fascinating... outstanding blend of the comic and the eerie ... engrossing and enchanting ... It is impossible to put down."
—New Brunswick Reader
"This is a book I hated to put down until I reached its satisfying conclusion."
—St. Louis Post-Dispatch
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bo Bradley, 41, works for San Diego's Child Protective Services and suffers from a manic-depressive illness which she controls with medication. Bo's fifth appearance (following Moonbird Boy, 1996) is an uneven tale in which the investigator draws on her own experience, as she has in the previous entries in this generally commendable series, to establish rapport with others who are troubled. Here, she reaches out to 15-year-old Janny Malcolm, a child in foster care who is found in a catatonic state at a popular vampire-theme club. A battered antique doll is chained to Janny's wrist. Against all departmental rules, Bo befriends Janny and picks up a 13-year-long trail of child abuse, deceit and murder that may involve the Child Protective Services at the highest level. And when Bo discovers that her fusty and judgmental supervisor has secretly attended the closed funeral of Janny's identical twin (dead after 13 years in an assault-induced coma), her investigative instincts get into high hear. This story is rich in atmosphere, and Bo, with her heightened psychological insight and empathy, makes a compelling sleuth. But melodramatic plot twists and an excess of bizarre behavior explained in mini-avalanches of psychobabble interrupt the suspense and continually knock the narrative off its track. Author tour.
