Things changing very quickly in the conference room when
Gwen Marcey hears the location of the last case to be
assigned in their morning briefing at her new job as a
forensic artist. Gwen has just started with the Interagency
Major Crimes Unit in downtown Missoula, Montana and so she
startles everyone when she demands that case and grabs it
away from another staff member.
The case involves a missing four-year-old child and Gwen
drives quickly to the crime scene in the small town of
Lawpei, Idaho. On the way, she passes the small town where
she had lived as a child and faced an horrific scene. The
circumstances are similar, but is that just a coincidence?
As she meets up with the handsome Seth Kus, chief of the Nez
Perce Tribal Police, and his team, at the crime scene, Gwen
knows her intuition is on target. Gwen understands some of
the hostility to an outsider; yet, she is surprised as the
hostility and jealousy she experiences escalates into
vandalism and violence against her. Who is behind these
vicious attacks?
PORTRAIT OF VENGEANCE is the fourth book by the very
talented and award-winning author Carrie Stuart Parks. This
latest mystery is just as exciting and suspenseful as her
previous books, if not even more so. While PORTRAIT OF
VENGEANCE is fully complete and can easily be read as a
stand-alone mystery, it definitely is much richer as a story
if a few of the earlier books have been read before as her
many fans will attest.
In her work as a forensic artist, Gwen sees crimes from a
different perspective than that of other law enforcement
officers and this makes her a very intriguing protagonist.
She is also a divorced breast cancer survivor with a teenage
daughter, so interesting side issues and self-reflections on
her actions are multilayered into the plot in a very natural
style. Gwen also has a great best friend, Beth, and Winston,
her Great Pyrenees dog, both add much to the plot and the
story development.
Parks is a master storyteller and what I enjoy and admire in
her books is how she brings in political and other issues in
the story as part of the suspense. In PORTRAIT OF VENGEANCE,
she paints a vivid picture of some of the issues facing the
Nez Perce (and other First Peoples in the United States) as
she highlights past events at Wounded Knee and other
historical connections. The intensity of her storyline is
also heightened by her use of short chapters and flashbacks
to critical incidents in Gwen's own childhood.
Fans of Parks ' earlier mysteries are sure to be delighted
with this latest addition to the Gwen
Marcey series and its stories of revenge. As a
totally unbiased fan, I can fully recommend PORTRAIT OF
VENGEANCE to anyone who appreciates an amazing crime/police
story with intriguing characters and fast-paced action that
paints a picture of how past events can have tentacles that
find their way into the present. Get your copy and go for a
wild ride to find out the mystery behind PORTRAIT OF
VENGEANCE! Enjoy!
An unsolved case. A tempest of memories. The
future’s at stake—and time is running out . . .
Gwen Marcey has done a good job keeping the pain of her past
boxed up. But as she investigates the case of a missing
child in Lapwai, Idaho, details keep surfacing that are
eerily similar to her childhood traumas. She doesn’t believe
in coincidences. So what’s going on here?
No one knows more about the impact of the past than the Nez
Perce people of Lapwai. Gwen finds herself an unwelcome
visitor to some, making her investigation even more
difficult. The questions keep piling up, but answers are
slow in coming—and the clock is ticking for a missing little
girl. Meanwhile, Gwen’s ex-husband is threatening to take
sole custody of their daughter.
As Gwen’s past and present collide, she’s in a desperate
race for the truth. Because only truth will ensure she still
has a future.
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