cover image Yria Dane

Yria Dane

Julien Kade. Mill City, $19.99 trade paper (434p) ISBN 978-1-63413-327-2

A routine missing-person case transforms into something terrifying in Kade%E2%80%99s mystery set in Annecy, France, in 1952. Brothers Satordi and Marin Biertempfel have worked as PIs in their town for 13 years, with hundreds of successful investigations to their credit. Satordi%E2%80%99s meeting with a new prospective client, tavern-owner Haulmier Guloe, leads the detective to expect another success. Haulmier%E2%80%99s 17-year-old daughter, Ambrielle, who has worked as a prostitute, has vanished, %E2%80%9Ccarrying a massive stash of stolen loot she%E2%80%99d taken from her father.%E2%80%9D After getting Haulmier%E2%80%99s assurance that he won%E2%80%99t harm Ambrielle, Satordi accepts the assignment. The inquiry becomes more complicated when an old missing-person case gets renewed attention. Press coverage of Orisia Laroque%E2%80%99s vow to continue searching for her sister, Yria Dane, who went missing in 1941, leads Ambrielle to look into that disappearance. Despite some odd phrasing (%E2%80%9CI look to Haulmier, then conduct a reply%E2%80%9D), Kade manages to sustain interest and generate some genuinely spooky moments. (BookLife)