True Believers

Blair's (Depth of Field) sixth mystery introduces his new protagonist Hack Loomis, a Canadian transplant working as a private investigator in Burlington, Vt. Business is slow, but a romance with his assistant Connie Noble is heating up. When Connie's friend Belle Ryerson disappears, their attempts to find her lead them to the Kentauran Foundation, which claims to be communicating with aliens and is promising to take its members to another planet to escape an imminent ecological collapse on Earth. It's not the kind of group Connie and Belle's sister think Belle would have belonged to, but as Hack and Connie follow the lead and delve into the case further, it leads them to suspects, motives and dangers that are all too human. With strong characters, dialogue and some wry humor, Blair confidently guides readers through these entanglements and builds momentum to an action-packed and adrenaline-fuelled conclusion. (Apr. 2015)