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Rating: 
Summary: Fair - nothing special
Review: A fair mystery, nothing special. Sonora Blair, tough-but-vulnerable Cincinnati police detective, knows the father of 15-year-old Joellen Chauncey is involved somehow in his daughter's mysterious disappearance. But Sonora's boss, partner, and colleagues think she's crazy. Dixon Chauncey is a devoted single father of three, and a mild, self-effacing milquetoast who's much too "squishy" to be a suspect. Sonora doesn't buy the official line--that Joellen got caught between two feuding scam artists involved in a thoroughbred swindle--not even when the girl's body turns up, along with an empty, blood-spattered horse trailer. Sonora won't ignore what her gut tells her. And when Joellen's diaries open up a whole new line of investigation tied into a missing children's network, she renews her efforts to find the crack in Dixon's façade. The plot is full of seductive McGuffins: the owner of a riding school who lands in the hospital minus a finger; a mysterious and sexy stranger hanging around the barn. The narrative meanders a bit, taking in Sonora's failings as a single mother to her own kids, her impulsive decision to buy a horse, and her overactive libido (which fastens itself on three different men in a little over 300 pages).
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: I am a fan of good detective fiction. But sadly, I have found that many pieces of the genre fail to thrill and satisfy me the way Hightower has with NO GOOD DEED. After reading this book, I can easily place Lynn S. Hightower in the same category as John Grisham. Hightower's heroine Sonora Blair is both bewitching and believable. And the ending is a jolt! (As endings should be with any good piece of detective fiction.)
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: I wanted to like this book. Sonora is a true original, and the other characters seemed well-drawn, with realistic dialog and many humorous touches. However -- and this is a big reservation -- I was flabbergasted that she & her sidekicks couldn't figure out why Joelle was killed until the very end! For Pete's sake, I had it nailed on page 39 as soon as Sonora found the girl's secret stash of kidnapped children materials. Even Joelle's journal entries all but shouted the truth -- how more obvious a clue do you need?! I read a ton of mysteries and, to me, one of the hallmarks of greatness is when I am left guessing 'til the last page. On that count, this book failed miserably, because the only ones left guessing were the detectives.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: Lynn Hightower spins a good detective/cop story. This one is set in the lower echelons of the horse business, and the auction scenes may break your heart, as they did that of the heroine, Sonora Blair. The plot was intricate and absorbing, had enough twists and turns to keep a veteran reader of this genre interested, and had good characterization, especially of the harried life of a working mother/police detective/single woman seraching for love & romance protagonist, Sonora. And I liked the setting of horsey Cincinnati, even though I'm not particularly horse-enamored. It made me want to take a drive through the area and look again at the marginal horse farms, not just the ritzy ones.I liked this book well enough to go searching for other detective mysteries by Hightower.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm surprized I hadn't discovered Hightower earlier!
Review: Lynn Hightower spins a good detective/cop story. This one is set in the lower echelons of the horse business, and the auction scenes may break your heart, as they did that of the heroine, Sonora Blair. The plot was intricate and absorbing, had enough twists and turns to keep a veteran reader of this genre interested, and had good characterization, especially of the harried life of a working mother/police detective/single woman seraching for love & romance protagonist, Sonora. And I liked the setting of horsey Cincinnati, even though I'm not particularly horse-enamored. It made me want to take a drive through the area and look again at the marginal horse farms, not just the ritzy ones. I liked this book well enough to go searching for other detective mysteries by Hightower.
Rating:
Summary: recommended
Review: This was one of the most enjoyable mysteries I have read so far this year. Hightower's attention to detail is just right, making me feel at times like I was reading a true-crime book. I haven't read any of her other novels (yet), but if they're like this one, then this ranks with one of the best series on mystery fiction. I've docked the novel one star because an important clue was not discovered until the end.
Rating:
Summary: recommended
Review: This was one of the most enjoyable mysteries I have read so far this year. Hightower's attention to detail is just right, making me feel at times like I was reading a true-crime book. I haven't read any of her other novels (yet), but if they're like this one, then this ranks with one of the best series on mystery fiction. I've docked the novel one star because an important clue was not discovered until the end.
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