If a Face Could Kill

Former FBI agent Brigid Quinn is haunted by past mistakes as she’s ensnared in a troubling new case in Masterman’s nuanced sequel to We Were Killers Once. After leaving the Bureau, Brigid began volunteering at Desert Doves, an Arizona shelter for abused women. There, she bonded with resident Nicole “Nicki” Gleason, whom she trained in self-defense, only to wind up reluctantly testifying against Nicki after she was accused of killing her abusive husband. Four years later, the women’s paths cross again when Nicki moves into a residence for felons near Brigid’s home. After Nicki’s apartment is burglarized by a man who’s killed by police, the violence emboldens Brigid’s neighbor, habitual malcontent Dorita Gordino, to ramp up her campaign to shut down the halfway house. When Dorita’s partly burned corpse is discovered a short time later, both Nicki and Brigid, who’d feuded with the dead woman, come under suspicion. Guilt-ridden over her role in Nicki’s incarceration, Brigid sets out to clear her name by identifying Dorita’s murderer and their connection to the burglary. Well-shaded characters, genuine surprises, and a meaty moral dilemma elevate this soapy thriller. Lisa Unger fans will be pleased. (Mar.)