Kathy Reichs: Two Nights

Posted on May 4, 2017 by J-LBRBSBLOGS

Can a woman with a dangerous past find a girl with no future?

Please note that the following review is my opinion and has been based on reading a proof copy* of this book due out in July 2017.

Main characters:
Sunday (Sunnie) Night: Ex-military, Ex-cop, lives ‘of the grid’ on Goat Island near Charleston and is very careful about personal security; Striking not only because of her height but due to a facial disfigurement from her time as a cop.
August (Gus) Night: Sunnies brother.

Plot:
After a bombing in Chicago near a Hebrew school 12 months ago Opaline Drucker asks Beau, Sunnies foster-father, to arrange a meeting with Sunnie. Opaline is a wealthy, southern lady who wants Sunnie to find the people responsible for the bombing in which her daughter, Mary Gray Bright, and grandson, Bowen, were killed and where her granddaughter, 15 yr old Stella, went missing. Opaline believes that Stella has been taken by the bombers. She wants ‘justice’ for the deaths of Mary and Bowen. She wants Stella back, if she’s still alive. Opaline knows things about Sunnie which make her believe she is the right person for the job. After meeting Sunnie agrees to take on the case. She travels to Chicago. Following leads, gathering information – not always in a lawful way – knowing that her brother Gus has ‘got her back’ Sunnie uses her military skills and police know-how to look for the bombers. She puts herself in harms way but everything is to find Stella if only she’s alive.

There is an inter-weaved story which helps explain some of Sunnies demons from her childhood and time in the military. We learn about the incident which leaves Sunnie disfigured and to her leaving the force.

This is a ‘stand-alone’ book but one that would easily lend itself to become a series. If that was the case, I would hope that the ‘demons’ Sunnie has aren’t overplayed. It is great to have background and understanding of why the main protagonist behaves as she does, her character and relationships. As a reader, I want them and understand the need for them. But there also needs to be a way forward whether that is to overcome, or accept and be able to live with, them. It would be interesting to see how that would be handled. I would welcome more from Kathy Reichs should she decide to write more.

My thoughts
Kathy Reichs, well know for her Tempe Brennen series, branches away from the world of forensics and FBI investigations into the world of private investigation with her new book Two Nights. This may not be loved by all those who are Kath Reichs Tempe followers but I very much enjoyed it, it is well written as you would expect from Kathy Reichs, it has pace, the characters are great and it is a terrific read.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Thanks: * With thanks to William Heineman, London (Penguin Random House, UK) for providing me with a proof copy to review.