cover image Hostile Witness: A Kate Ford Mystery

Hostile Witness: A Kate Ford Mystery

Leigh Adams. Crooked Lane (crookedlanebooks.com), $24.99 (304p) ISBN 978-1-62953-199-1

This unusual series launch combines cozy prose with a thriller plot. Kate Ford, a cyber security expert at Almador Corporation in Virginia, is assigned a new project for a robotics firm, Robotix. A routine security check of Robotix’s website turns into a nightmare, forcing a lockdown at Almador’s headquarters. When Kate suddenly finds herself on leave after being booted from her office and escorted from the premises, she takes an interest in a high-profile kidnapping trial with ties to Almador owner Richard Hamilton. Once attractive cop Tom Abbot enters the picture, Kate, who was burned by a bad marriage and hasn’t been involved with anyone for years, is inexorably drawn into the case, finding that far too much about the crime and its aftermath are shrouded in mystery. Adams provides a tantalizing glimpse into a murky world where cybercrime, politics, and murder go hand in hand. [em]Agent: Meredith Bernstein, Meredith Bernstein Literary Agency. (Feb.) [/em]