CANDLELIT CHRONICLES: HISTORIC HAUNTS

Martha Grimes "Biting the Moon"

Read this one last night and will read the new sequel, Dakota tonight. Knew of Martha Grimes as author of the prolific

Richard Jury

series, but had not read any. This is not a series novel. A young adolescent amnesiac awakes in an isolated New Mexico B-and-B. Rather than seek police aid, she is determined to piece back her lost memories and find her life. Andi must be the most determined fictional character I have ever encountered. She and all those with whom she interacts are richly and deeply delineated. The action is, at risk of a cliche, non-stop, maintaining the reader's breathless state throughout. Even with some foreshadowing, the plot twists are taut, convoluted, and unexpected. Ms. Grimes just will not let the reader peer too far ahead around the corners.I'm eager to read the sequel.