Long Gone

Annalisa Vega is back in the second of Schaffhausen’s series, looking at the inner life of a troubled Chicago PD detective. In the first book, Gone for Good, Annalisa pursued the killer of a family friend, ultimately finding uncomfortable truths far too close to home. (No spoilers!—you don’t have to read the first book to enjoy this one, but it’s well worth the read while you wait for book 2). Now, the detective is still partnered at work with her ex-husband-with-benefits, Nick, and doing her own sort of time as other cops give her the cold shoulder for fighting against crookedness within the force. The book opens with a headscratcher for Annalisa and Nick. Not only is a successful officer (who has perhaps too nice a home and car for his salary) shot dead in his bed while his wife is untouched, she claims that the killer was “a frogman,” a murderer wearing a scuba-diving suit. What follows is a look at Annalisa’s life as someone who can’t let things go—bad enough when it’s Nick, much worse when she’s ordered off cases and still won’t stop. Schaffhausen again weaves family dynamics, terrible decisions, and long-festering secrets with love and bitter regret to create a riveting story. The delightfully exasperating main character and cast are a bonus.