Have you ever felt like you were a puppet on a string? I did when I picked up WHEN ALL THE GIRLS HAVE GONE and author Jayne Ann Krentz pulled me along this intricate read. She is a true master in the suspense/mystery/romance art form so of course I loved every minute of it.

We follow Charlotte Sawyer whose stepsister is missing. She get gets really worried when she can't get in touch with her stepsister to tell her about a friend's recent troubling death. Charlotte meets Max Cutler, who has been hired by the deceased friend's young cousin. Neither the cousin nor Charlotte nor Max believe the police conviction that the death was due to a drug overdose.

Max immediately finds Charlotte interesting so to not break the usual "don't mess with a client" rule that is in most P.I.'s ground rules they become partners. Neither of them realize that the road they are about to take will lead them through a maze filled with unexpected surprises. Including, of course, how quickly and easily they understand and trust each other. She's been determined to be too naïve and too tender for her own good and he's a divorced burn-out just starting a new job. Yes ... exactly ... perfect for each other. If they survive all the shocks that come their way.

WHEN ALL THE GIRLS HAVE GONE is riveting. The master of intrigue, Jayne Ann Krentz, leads the reader through a multitude of interesting twists in this book. Charlotte and Max are perfect for each other and the other characters add a lot of color, some much needed humor and surprises ... many, many surprises. This a well written maze of story-lines that will draw you to an astonishing finale. We have the disappearing stepsister, and Charlotte and Max are the main parts but into the mix is the "investment group" and those members are involved in much more than having a glass of wine and throwing some money into a pot and watching it grow. When you add in the mystery of the unsolved crime when Jocelyn (the stepsister) was in college and all the people and mystery that entails; Charlotte's ex-fiance (who unwittingly added a moment for her to seek a bit of feminine revenge); Max's obsession in finding the man who caused the death of his mother and tried to kill him and his foster brothers, and add into the mix the fact that Max has half siblings that don't know about him but one of them is about to come to harm ... and you have WHEN ALL THE GIRLS HAVE GONE rolled into one amazing, can't put down read.

If I had one small complaint it is that there is not a whole lot of physical romance in WHEN ALL THE GIRLS HAVE GONE. What is there is in the author's usual tasteful but steamy style that we have all come to expect. All in all a fantastic job as always Ms. Krentz ... keep them coming.