Fadeaway Girl

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For waitress and cub reporter Emma Graham, tragedy defines where she lives. Spirit Lake, La Porte, and Lake Noir have been held in thrall by intertwined crimes: the murders of Mary-Evelyn Devereau, Rose Queen, and Fern Queen; the supposed kidnapping of a four-month-old baby from the Belle Ruin hotel twenty years previously; and, most recently, the attack on Emma. And with the arrival of an unexpected visitor and a drifter, it looks like the bad times have only begun...From Publishers WeeklyA 20-year-old kidnapping with faint echoes of the Lindbergh case drives Grimes's convoluted fourth crime novel featuring Emma Graham, a direct sequel to 2005's Belle Ruin. Emma, a 12-year-old cub reporter who also helps out at the Hotel Paradise in La Porte, Md., where her mother's the cook, thinks that the accounts don't add up about the unsolved disappearance of Baby Fay Slade from the nearby Belle Rouen hotel. Emma's doubts center on the possible role of Fay's father, the shady Morris Slade; Morris's spoiled wife; his rich father-in-law; and his former neighbors. The abrupt reappearance of Morris Slade and the arrival of a smug new hotel employee raise further questions and end in sudden death. Grimes's strength is in her appealing characters, from the inquisitive Emma and her dipsomaniac great-aunt, Aurora, to the pretentious 16-year-old Ree-Jane Davidow and philosophical auto mechanic Dwayne, but gaps in logic, lack of red herrings, and frequent references to earlier entries in the series may put off some readers, especially those unfamiliar with the previous books. 4-city author tour. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. From BooklistEmma Graham, last seen in the disappointing Belle Ruin (2005), returns to better form in this latest episode in Grimes’ series starring the precocious 12-year-old sleuth. Emma, a cub reporter for the Conservative, is nearly finished telling the serialized story of her harrowing experience in “The Tragedy at Spirit Lake.” She’s distracted, though, by questions surrounding the disappearance of Baby Fay 20 years prior. The sudden arrival of two people—the baby’s father and drifter Ralph Diggs—piques her curiosity. Diggs wins the hearts of everyone in town, except Emma, who manages to put herself in considerable danger as she searaches for the truth about Baby Fay. Emma is not without her charms (especially when she’s hiding empty rum bottles on her great aunt’s behalf or outwitting a dim-witted sheriff’s deputy), but to enjoy her adventures, readers must suspend considerable disbelief to accept the idea of a 12-year-old who displays far more savvy than most adults. That hurdle crossed, however, this is an agreeable thriller from a seasoned hand. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Grimes’ Richard Jury novels sell better than this series, but there will be more than enough spillover to generate requests in public libraries. --Mary Frances Wilkens