GONE FOR GOOD is my introduction to Joanna Schaffhausen. Not sure why or how I’ve missed this talented author but so glad that I stumbled onto her. GONE FOR GOOD is a crime novel surrounded by character development and studies. With each page, you seem to meet still another character that niggles your mind. Joanna Schaffhausen makes the reader an armchair investigator in this whodunit. Annalisa Vega is front and center as a detective who is faced with a murderer who is very familiar. The police had spent several years investigating the Lovelorn Killer. Then all roads led to a dead-end, no pun intended. Now twenty years later it seems as if the killer is back. Annalisa’s father was one of the cops on the Lovelorn Killer case so many years ago. The last victim was someone near and dear to Annalisa and her family. Not only that but it was the wife of a cop.
It seems almost obvious that this killer has a system for choosing his victims. They are a specific type, and this killer is bold. Annalisa isn’t sure exactly why this maniac has decided to come out of hiding and strike once again. But they all know this is a case that can’t go cold again.
There are many characters that belong to an amateur sleuth group called the Grave Diggers. The latest victim belonged to this group. She was intent on finding this killer, so much so, she basically put herself in his crosshairs.
As with any good crime novel, facts keep surfacing and suspects evolve. In GONE FOR GOOD, Joanna Schaffhausen unleashes a myriad of interesting clues, all designed to keep you busy turning pages. In some ways, Joanna Schaffhausen reminds me of Lisa Gardner with her amazing characters. It is those characters that keep you mesmerized. Hard to walk away from GONE FOR GOOD. It is a compelling, well-written read. Sure to gather new fans and reward returning ones.
Looking for an excellent crime story? Get your hands on GONE FOR GOOD and settle into a comfortable chair... You won’t be going anywhere any time soon.
Gone For Good is the first in a new mystery series from award-winning author Joanna Schaffhausen, featuring Detective Annalisa Vega, in which a cold case heats up.The Lovelorn Killer murdered seven women, ritually binding them and leaving them for dead before penning them gruesome love letters in the local papers. Then he disappeared, and after twenty years with no trace of him, many believe that he’s gone for good.Not Grace Harper. A grocery store manager by day, at night Grace uses her snooping skills as part of an amateur sleuth group. She believes the Lovelorn Killer is still living in the same neighborhoods that he hunted in, and if she can figure out how he selected his victims, she will have the key to his identity.Detective Annalisa Vega lost someone she loved to the killer. Now she’s at a murder scene with the worst kind of déjà vu: Grace Harper lies bound and dead on the floor, surrounded by clues to the biggest murder case that Chicago homicide never solved. Annalisa has the chance to make it rights and to heal her family, but first, she has to figure out what Grace knew—how to see a killer who may be standing right in front of you. This means tracing his steps back to her childhood, peering into dark corners she hadn’t acknowledged before, and learning that despite everything the killer took, she has still so much more to lose.
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