What if someone set you up....

[Luanne Ollivier]

I recently read and reviewed my first Alafair Burke book - 212 - part of a series and really enjoyed it.  Long Gone is Burke's latest book and it's a stand alone.

Alice Humphrey is determined not to rely on her father's money to support her any longer. After months of job searching, she jumps at the chance when Drew Campbell offers her a job managing a small art gallery. The owner is a bit eccentric, so she'll have to go with his decisions to show some controversial works. Her friends express doubts, but Alice is determined to make it work.

And it does - until the morning she comes to work and finds the place stripped down. And Drew Campbell dead in the middle of the gallery. Only his name's not Drew...and Alice is fast becoming the prime suspect.

Determined to prove her innocence, Alice sets out to find the real murderer and clear her name. But everywhere she turns, someone else has been there first...

This is the plot line that sucked me in from the beginning. The terror in finding out that someone has set you up. This is the strong suit of Long Gone. Lots of red herrings and questions are raised with Alice's family's past, the assigned FBI agent's dedication (or lack of) to the case and whose interests does the family lawyer really have at heart?  However there are two additional stories being told as well - that of a missing teenager and and an FBI agent's quest to find the killer of his sister.  I wondered how they would all tie together. The teenager does, but I found the agent's tale a bit of a square peg in a round hole.

Long Gone is a fast paced pager turner with lots of twists and a great ending. Burke has succeeded in stepping out of the series mode to try something different. She's definitely on my must read list.