The Murder of Madison Garcia: A Ford Family Mystery

The discovery of Madison Garcia’s stabbed body in a parked car drives McCreary’s uneven sequel to 2021’s The Disappearance of Trudy Solomon. Despite a miserable cold, Det. Susan Ford of the Monticello, N.Y., PD responds to the call to the crime scene. Susan knows Madison’s parents died under troubling circumstances when she was a teenager, their bodies found by her then-boyfriend, local bad-boy Rafael Garcia. Given this history, Susan requests that her father, retired detective Will Ford, consult on the case. Suspects are plentiful, some with grudges going back years. Jacob Bowman, Madison’s business partner, would benefit financially from her death. Jacob is also under investigation for money laundering; Madison was getting in his way. Sarah Steinberg knifed a girl in high school, and she blamed Madison for stealing Rafael from her. Did Sarah finally get back at Madison? Camilla, Rafael’s twin, has several reasons to want Madison dead. The strong father and daughter pairing makes up only in part for a convoluted plot that stalls under the weight of too many characters with too many good reasons to do the dreadful Madison in. Hopefully, McCreary will return to form next time. (Mar.)