cover image A Map of the Dark

A Map of the Dark

Karen Ellis. Mulholland, $26 (304p) ISBN 978-0-316-50566-6

At the start of this riveting series launch from the pseudonymous Ellis, FBI special agent Elsa Myers, a member of the Child Abduction Rapid Deployment Unit operating out of New York City, answers a summons from Det. Lex Cole, who’s fresh out of vice and new to missing child cases, to meet him at his office in Queens. Ruby Haverstock, a 17-year-old high school student with a stable home life and no cause to run away, has disappeared. Ruby was last seen at the Queens café where she worked part-time. Oddly, just before the end of her shift, she turned off the security camera and buzzed someone in. As the time clock for finding Ruby ticks down, Elsa and Lex chase numerous false leads and Elsa attempts to balance the investigation and familial obligations: her father is dying in a hospital north of the city. When a suspect is finally revealed, so is a deeply personal connection to Elsa. Multiple points of view and glimpses into Elsa’s dark past heighten tension; the tight plotting will keep readers turning the pages. Agent: Dan Conaway, Writers House. (Jan.)