Reading Ahead: February 2016, part 1

Happy New Year, readers! Have you heard that there's a new "resolution" people are making now? They choose a word that they plan to incorporate into their lives more in the coming year, like "strength" or "simplify" or "relax". I like that last one, particular--it conjures up images of reading by the fire, at least during the current extreme cold snap! If that sounds good to you, too, here are a few titles coming out in just a few short weeks, guaranteed to make you want to unplug and unwind for awhile.

Find Her, by Lisa Gardner. If you've been reading around this blog for any length of time, you may have picked up on the fact that Gardner is a favorite of mine. So this is at the top of my to-read list next month!
Seven years ago, carefree college student Flora was kidnapped while on spring break. For 472 days, Flora learned just how much one person can endure. Miraculously alive after her ordeal, Flora has spent the past five years reacquainting herself with the rhythms of normal life, working with her FBI victim advocate, Samuel Keynes. She has a mother who’s never stopped loving her, a brother who is scared of the person she’s become, and a bedroom wall covered with photos of other girls who’ve never made it home. When Boston detective D. D. Warren is called to the scene of a crime—a dead man and the bound, naked woman who killed him—she learns that Flora has tangled with three other suspects since her return to society. Is Flora a victim or a vigilante?

Violent Crimes, by Philip Margolin. A lawyer who has lined his coffers by representing oil and coal interests, Dale Masterson is found beaten to death, and his ecowarrior son Brandon confesses. But the case falls apart, and defense lawyer Amanda Jaffe (popular with Margolin fans) must uncover who the real killer might be.

Breakdown, by Jonathan Kellerman. Psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware meets beautiful and emotionally fragile TV actress Zelda Chase when called upon to evaluate her five-year-old son, Ovid. Years later, Alex is unexpectedly reunited with Zelda when she is involuntarily committed after a bizarre psychotic episode. Shortly after Zelda’s release, an already sad situation turns tragic when she is discovered dead on the grounds of a palatial Bel Air estate. Having experienced more than enough of L.A.’s dark side to recognize the scent of evil, Alex turns to his friend LAPD Lieutenant Milo Sturgis for help in finding out who ended Zelda’s broken life. At the same time, he must try and find Zelda's son, who has gone missing.