River Point and Creek Valley, New York - Present Day

Victoria Mardullo is a writer for the magazine Search and Seizure so she knows something about researching criminal cases.

Tory's uncle, Patrick Malley, is a police sergeant; her brother Peter is a SWAT team member, and her brother James is in the Army, stationed in Iraq. And she has cousins . . . Connor and Brian are also on the police force; Tom is a firefighter, and Andy is a sheriff. Tory is surrounded by civic-minded relatives, and each is determined to be her guardian.

Tory's father Danny, the cop she loved best, is dead, and his murder has yet to be solved. His loss and the mysterious unsolved disappearance of Steven Soranno, the man she still loves, have made her put up barriers and concentrate on her career.

Detective Tod Kafrey is the investigator of record regarding her father's case. He would very much like to give aid and comfort to Tory. So would Bret Collins, a Town Board member who aspires to be Town Supervisor. He is an older man with a poor political track record, and his fear that his shady dealings will be discovered always nags at him. With someone like Victoria at his side, he would be much closer to achieving his goals.

Victoria agrees to help Federal officials gather information that would bring positive proof of Collins's illegal activities. There is also the chance that he might know more about her father's killing, although he is not the prime suspect. Much to her own distaste and her family's chagrin, Victoria begins dating him. It is not just her brother, uncle, and cousins who are against her seeing the politician. Detective Kafrey is furious. Only her mother seems to trust that Victoria knows what she is doing. Because of the secrecy imposed on her, she cannot tell anyone in the family her reasons for seeing Collins and she has left herself open to danger. To further complicate matters, Steven suddenly reappears with secrets of his own, throwing her heart and head into a tailspin.

Laura Marie Henion manages her stage with smooth finesse. The town of River Point is alive, peopled with fully developed characters. There are several other dead bodies along the way, and the action builds to a crisis so relentlessly one can almost hear the background music. Everything with the plot works, and the identity of the killer was certainly unexpected. Fix a glass of ice tea and enjoy. I very much recommend VICTORIA.

Vi Janaway