Vanishing Act

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Robin Light's client was in his prime: mid-twenties and all-American. But Bryan Hayes was no happy-go-lucky guy. For four months he had been looking for his sister, Melissa, a college sophomore who waved goodbye outside her dorm and disappeared without a trace. Everyone from the university's head of security to the dean and the police have their theories about what happened to her. And so does Bryan. He's blaming it on frat boy charmer, Tommy West, Melissa's ex-boyfriend.But Robin is developing a theory of her own. If Melissa met with foul play, why did she take her clothes, her purse, and her cash? If it was such a well-planned vanishing act why is Tommy so reluctant to talk? And why does Jill Evans, Melissa's best friend and fatal victim of a bizarre accident, keep figuring into the picture? It's all as baffling as Melissa's disappearance. Combing the campus for clues, Robin has suddenly found herself moving to the head of the class, and closer to the most challenging mystery of her career. Where it will lead she is afraid to guess, but the secret pasts of a surprising array of suspects are about to come to light, placing Robin in deadly jeopardy. . .and forcing her into a desperate gamble for the truth.From Publishers WeeklyRobin Light, pet-shop owner and amateur detective last seen in The Scent of Murder (1997), returns in a missing-persons case. College student Bryan Hayes hires Robin to look into the disappearance of his sister, Melissa, four months earlier. Robin takes to the local college campus at Syracuse to interview Melissa's former suitemates; her boyfriend, Tommy West; and psychology professor Fell, all of whom link Melissa's disappearance to the death a year earlier of her close friend Jill Evans. Complicating matters is the terminal illness of Bryan and Melissa's mother, who is determined that her daughter be found. Robin is also tolerating a rocky stage in her romantic relationship with ex-cop George, who has taken in his streetwise 14-year-old nephew. Although tightly written, stereotypes abound as the college students live on pizza, and George, who is black, has a run-in with a white cop over his nephew. As the tale progresses, Robin finds herself threatened by Tommy's wealthy father and uncovers some sordid information about Tommy and Bryan. The plot ends with a typical sleuth-meets-killer-and-solves-crime finale. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalSeries sleuth Robin Light (The Scent of Danger, LJ 8/97), who normally runs a pet shop, hunts for a missing college co-ed when police fail to find any leads. The co-ed's hyper brother and dying mother want results?which means danger for Robin. Instantly involving.Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.